Gamenews Weekly
Production Pages
Every month in Gamenews Weekly: Production Pages - games in development in Australia. To get the next issue, and lots more, subscribe to Gamenews Weekly today!

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Industry
2006 IEAA Award Winners Announced
The Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia held is inaugural industry awards last Friday and has now announced the winners - see table. For the official document click here (pdf). [27 February 2006] [top]

Development
New Look Queensland Game Cluster; Logo Competition
Brisbane based Electronic Games Queensland has renamed itself Electronic Games Australia and is now looking for a new logo. They have opened up a logo competition with a prize of $500, and their mission statement is "to build wealth and value in Australia's independent game developers, broaden their international branding power, protect their intellectual property, and encourage collaboration among developers that leads to larger and more ambitious projects." the competition is open to the public and the deadline is 17th of March 2006, the winner to be announced 31 March. Rules and further information on the group can be had via their new website www.ega.org.au. The group is sponsored by the Queensland Government, and the old business name has now been deregistered while the old website (hosted at egq.com.au and qldgamedev.com.au) now redirects to the new ega.org.au site. The old site used to have a video of Premier Beattie talking up the Queensland game industry (see Premier Beattie Talks Up Games in Queensland 24/7, 3 June 2005); it is unknown whether there will be a video talking up the industry nationally. [23 February 2006] [top]

Industry
Gizmondo Europe in Liquidation
The venture Gizmondo Europe Limited (see The Gizmondo Handheld, 6 September 2005) owned by US based Tiger Telematics Inc, is coming to a close with the appointment early February of Begbies Traynor and David Rubin & Partners, joint liquidators. The liquidators say Gizmondo Europe Limited "entered into liquidation after making net losses estimated at around £140 million in the nine-month period to September 2005 on sales of £1.4 million." "The company had previously lost £49 million on turnover of £400k in the year ended 31 December 2004." Gizmondo Europe Limited was incorporated in December 2002, and until its recent liquidation, employed 27 staff at its head office in Farnborough, Hampshire, and five at its Regent Street store in central London, which opened in March 2005. All staff have been made redundant. The UK website remains alive however, check it out here. [22 February 2006] [top]

Industry
U-235 Studios Closes
Sumea.com.au reports that Melbourne based start up studio U-235 has closed, a studio rep stating "after 15months of solid (insane amount of late nights!) work and appearances at international games conferences (GDC in LA and GameConnect in France), we got no interest from anyone. It's a real shame. I felt the studio had a lot of potential." For the link, click here. [22 February 2006] [top]

Society
US: Serious games - Philadelphia Police Trainer
NBC10.com reports that Philadelphia police are now using "a sophisticated video game that creates dramatic situations in which an officer must make split-second decisions to shoot or hold back with the virtual gun" to hone their skills. The report states: "A police officer has a split second to make that decision," said Philadelphia Police Capt. Mark Fisher. "This training provides us with that opportunity." For the article, click here. [17 February 2006] [top]

Society
US: Bucks County Pennsylvania Police Want to Ban 25 to Life
Philly.com reports that "a dozen Bucks County police chiefs turned out at a county commissioners meeting yesterday to urge a ban on a new video game in which players can kill police officers." "Commissioners adopted a resolution supporting a national effort to ban the game, called "25 to Life," which hit U.S. video-store shelves last month. It allows players to be criminals or law enforcement officers, according to the Web site for the United Kingdom-based software manufacturer, Eidos." For the article, click here. [17 February 2006] [top]

Development
Winter Olympics Gold Medalist Snowboarder Gets Game
Stellarmag.com reports that "Shaun White, who in the last month won X Games Superpipe gold and Olympic Halfpipe gold, has now signed a deal with Ubisoft to develop a new snowboarding video game, tentatively titled ‘Shaun White Snowboarding.’" For the brief article, click here. The game is expected 2007. [17 February 2006] [top]

E3Expo
First Annual Independent Game Developer's Showcase
Anti-theft and piracy company ECD Systems has announced that entries are now being accepted for the company's first annual Independent Game Developers Showcase, "a competition designed to bring greater visibility to the most innovative, creative games currently being marketed by independent developers." ECD says up to four games will be selected for the showcase based on online submissions, and the winning titles will be available for play at ECD's booth # 6453 at the E3 conference, May 10-12 in Los Angeles. For their website, click here. [17 February 2006] [top]

Events
World Cyber Games 2006 Release Official Game List, Xbox 360 Included
The World Cyber Games has announced the eight titles that will serve as official games for the 2006 World Cyber Games: the six PC games are StarCraft: Brood War; Warcraft: Frozen Throne; Half-Life: Counter-Strike 1.6; Warhammer 40,000: Winter Assault; FIFA Soccer 06; Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and the 2 console games are both for Xbox 360 and are Dead or Alive 4 and Project Gotham Racing 3. The 2006 Grand Final will be held in Monza, Italy 18-22 October 2006. The organisers state the Counter-Strike competition has been changed from 'Source' to '1.6' to facilitate better operation of tournaments leading up to the Grand Final, as a "result of player feedback on the World Cyber Games website following last year's successful event in Singapore.". For their website, click here. [17 February 2006] [top]

Industry
GameNews Weekly: Financial Round-Up
The latest issue of our weekly enewsletter contains our quarterly round up of major US indie publisher financial results, together with a profile on Xbox 360 launch games, our savvy editorial and events lists, and our weekly Game Japan news item (this week: Yoshimoto Kogyo Co Ltd) amongst other things. [15 February 2006] [top]

Classification
Atari's Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure Banned
The Office of Film and Literature Classification has said today that video game Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, is banned. The decision was taken by the Classification Review Board, which convened in response to applications by the Attorney-General and the Local Government Association of Queensland to review the MA 15+ classification decision given the game by the Classification Board on 18 November 2005. The Classification Review Board, in a 3 to 2 decision involving a casting vote from the Convenor (chair), decided the game should be refused classification. The OFLC state "a computer game that is refused classification (RC) is immediately banned throughout Australia. It cannot be demonstrated, sold, hired or imported into the country. A computer game is refused classification if it exceeds the guidelines for the MA 15+ classification." Convenor, Maureen Shelley said "both the National Classification Code and the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games state that a computer game will be refused classification if it includes or contains detailed instruction or promotion of matters of crime,” adding "it is the Classification Review Board’s determination that this game promotes the crime of graffiti.” The OFLC press release states "some factors contributing to this promotion include: the realistic scenarios whereby the central character Trane acquires his knowledge of graffiti tips, techniques and styles – including meeting with five real graffiti artists who pass on details of tips and techniques; the reward for and positive reinforcement of graffiti writing on public buildings and infrastructure, and interactive biographies of 56 real graffiti artists, with details of their personal tags, styles and careers. The game detail states that all these artists began their careers performing illegal graffiti on public buildings and infrastructure and that some continue with this practice today." For the press release, click here. [15 February 2006] [top]

Development
Brisbane Game Dev Meetup, 25 February
The next Brisbane Game Developers Meetup will be held at the Pavillion Bar, Stamford Plaza, on the Corner of Edward and Margaret in the Brisbane CBD, Saturday 25 February at 5:00 pm. To RSVP click here or join the meetup group here. [13 February 2006] [top]

Industry
Online Distribution Undermining Classification System
PC World has an interesting article on the continuing issue of Australia's video game classification system, a system which fails to include an 18+ category. "18+ Running with Scissors, the computer game publisher of the banned Postal franchise, has found a way to circumvent Australian Customs and classification restrictions by distributing its wares online" reports the article here. [13 February 2006] [top]

Xbox360
Australian Xbox 360 Game Launch List
Our sister site NewGames.com.au has a new feature online "The Waiting Game - Xbox 360 Games at Launch," providing a pictorial overview of the 28 Xbox 360 games expected to be available on launch of the console, 23 March 2006. For the article, click here. [13 February 2006] [top]

Development
THQ Forms new studio: Kaos Studios
Nasdaq listed publisher and developer THQ opened a new studio in New York last week, Kaos Studios, founded by veterans of Trauma Studios, creators of Desert Combat and Battlefield 2 R&D projects. THQ reports that "Kaos' first project is an original intellectual property for next generation consoles and Windows PC scheduled for release in 2007." Frank DeLise, lead designer, Kaos Studios, said in a statement from THQ that "THQ is a great home for experienced, creative teams like ours, when we looked at all the opportunities available to us, we found they truly foster creativity and embrace new, original intellectual properties. THQ was absolutely the best choice, hands down." Dan Kelly, senior vice president of business development, THQ said "THQ is committed to supporting strong creative talent, as evidenced by our growing internal development system which now numbers 18 teams across 12 studios." Two of the THQ studios are located in Australia. For the Kaos website, click here. [9 February 2006] [top]

Industry
Casual Games: RealNetworks Goes European
Nasdaq listed RealNetworks has bought Netherlands based Zylom Media Group BV established in 2001, "a premier distributor, developer and publisher of high-quality PC-based casual games throughout Europe." RealNetworks says it is the leading provider in the U.S. of downloadable PC casual games, and the company values the transaction at up to US$21 million. Rob Glaser, Founder and CEO of RealNetworks said "we're delighted to bring Zylom into the RealNetworks family. Games is very serious business at Real. By combining Zylom's broad-based European distribution and strong titles with our RealArcade, GameHouse, and Mr.Goodliving properties, we will be able to deliver more fun to more consumers around the world than ever before." Zylom's library includes 70 fully localised games in 7 languages "including the popular Mirror Magic and Hotel Solitaire as well as hit titles from leading game developers including PopCap's Bejeweled and Iwin's JewelQuest" states RealNetworks. Zylom currently distributes these games through its own direct-to-consumer web site www.zylom.com and through premier European distributors that include AOL, Wanadoo, and Yahoo. In 2005 reports RealNetworks, Zylom generated approximately €6.65 million or $7.98 million in revenue and approximately €620,000 or $750,000 in net income. Zylom co-founders Rutger Peters and Erik Goossens, as well as the rest of the Zylom team will stay in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, to lead Real's PC casual games business in Europe. For the Zylom site, click here. For RealNetworks site, click here. [9 February 2006] [top]

Industry
Electronic Arts Posts US$259 million Net Income, Below Previous Expectation
Net revenue for EA for the third quarter ending 31 December 2005 was $1.270 billion (all figures in US dollars except where indicated; US$1 is worth about AUD$0.75), down 11% percent as compared with $1.428 billion for the prior year and below previously stated expectations. Sales were driven by Need for Speed Most Wanted, FIFA 06, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Sims 2 and Madden NFL 06, each selling over 2 million copies in the quarter (in fact Need for Speed Most Wanted sold over seven million copies in the quarter with over 60 percent sold outside USA). Larry Probst, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EA said "we were number one on the PlayStation 2, the Xbox, PSP and PC in both North America and Europe. We also had a successful launch on the Xbox 360 and expect that we will be the number one publisher on this platform in 2006." Electronic Arts also had success in the third quarter with NBA Live 06, SSX On Tour, Tiger PGA TOUR 06, From Russia with Love, and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat which each sold over 1 million copies in the quarter. EA made a net income of $259 million for the quarter, down almost 31% as compared with net income of $375 million for the prior year. Previously, EA expected third quarter net revenue to be between $1.475 and $1.575 billion with full year net revenue expected to be between $3.3 and $3.4 billion (for the past year net revenue was $3.129 billion). For the third quarter results, click here. [7 February 2006] [top]

Industry
EA in USA to Layoff 145 Staff UPDATE: 300 Staff To Go
The San Francisco Examiner reports that "Electronic Arts, the world’s largest video game company, notified San Mateo County officials on Wednesday of the impending layoff of 145 employees. The layoffs at the company’s Redwood Shores Parkway headquarters, which will take effect starting April 3, are expected to be permanent." For the article, click here. UPDATE 7 FEB 06: EA apparently plans to lay off 300 staff, with this article reporting "The company's quarterly financial results were announced a day after the company confirmed it was laying off more than 300, or 5 percent, of its workforce of 6,500." [3 February 2006] [top]

Development
Empire Earth 2 Expansion Development Videos
NewGames.com.au has posted two developer videos from Vivendi Universal Games, concerning their Empire Earth 2 expansion The Art of Supremacy. Click here for the news item. [3 February 2006] [top]

Society
US: Dance Dance Revolution in Schools
"The state [of West Virginia] , with one of the nation's most severe obesity problems, is adding the video game "Dance Dance Revolution" to its 157 middle schools with the hope of putting it in all 753 public schools eventually, according to The Associated Press" report this article here. [3 February 2006] [top]

Education
Online Game Design and Development Course?
ICS (International Correspondence Schools) and Gatlin Education Services have partnered to provide a video game design and development course. According to the partners "the new online training course is designed for individuals looking to switch career paths, obtain advanced training and certifications, or for first-time job seekers who need specialized training. This non-credit course is open enrollment and self-paced, and students are paired with a personal instructor." For the Gatlin website, click here. For their game course page click here. [3 February 2006] [top]

Retail
GameStop moving into UK
"2006 looks set to be a year of major international expansion for the mighty GameStop empire, as the US chain sets its sites on the [European] Continent, industry watchers predicting a major UK push" reports MCV UK. GameStop opened a store in Birmingham in April 2005 and another subsequently, and has recently appointed former "GameStop.com president Niall Lawlor as the new VP for Europe" who is to operate out of Sweden reports MCV UK. Buying a chain of stores may be an option. For the article, click here. [3 February 2006] [top]

MMORPG
Stargate Online Game to Benefit from Perception's Priming
A new Stargate property game called Stargate Worlds is in development by Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment. Cheyenne made the announcement overnight. In September last year Cheyenne acquired a licence to develop the game based on the popular science-fiction television series, from MGM Interactive. The announcement stated "Cheyenne has quickly built a very talented development team and created some impressive initial art and technology assets. Cheyenne is excited to partner with world-renowned MGM Studios, and is proud to be entrusted with the popular Stargate SG-1 franchise." Travis Rutherford, Executive Vice President of MGM Interactive, stated "We chose to entrust the franchise to Cheyenne because we are confident in their ability to create a triple A Stargate MMO. Together we can g