GameNews Headlines March 2007 Onwards

* Halo 3: Must Beat US$151 million; 25 Sept Release [16 May 07]
* Film FX Studio Goes Game [15 May 07]
* Tantalus' Pony Friends [9 May 07]
* TV and Video Games: Able to Co-exist? [8 May 07]
* Its All About the Games [8 May 07]
* Developers Should Invent New Sports [7 May 07]
* UK: Game Group Buys Gamestation [3 May 07]
* Canberra's Irrational Games' BioShock in GameStop Exclusive [1 May 07]
* Women Gamers [1 May 07]
* Vista’s Direct X 10 – Cutting Edge [30 Apr 07]
* SeedC Pacific's MixMaster Online [30 Apr 07]
* EA Moves into Music Business [29 Mar 07]
* Mindscape: Quicky.com.au Casual Game site [14 Mar 07]
* Mexican Mayor Rails Against Ghost Recon AW2 [9 Mar 07]
* GDC: Gears of War Heralded [8 Mar 07]
* JoWood and Metaboli Deal [7 Mar 07]
* Activision to Acquire DemonWare [7 Mar 07]

Retail
Halo 3: Must Beat US$151 million; 25 Sept Release
Microsoft has announced the release date for Halo 3 for the X360, and it will be 25 September this year. The San Francisco Chronicle online reported in December 2004 that "the [video] industry set a milestone last month when Microsoft's Halo 2 -- a sequel to a futuristic game with an elaborate plot that pits humans against invading aliens -- surpassed Hollywood's opening-weekend movie box office record in just one day of sales. The software giant reported it had sold 2.38 million copies in the first 24 hours, translating to about [US]$125 million in sales, surpassing Hollywood's biggest weekend opening, that of "Spider-Man" at $114 million." The recently released Spider-Man 3 pulled in US$151,116,516 in its opening weekend according to BoxOfficeMojo.com, and is the current biggest weekend opening. For the Xbox news item, click here, for BoxOfficeMojo click here. [16 May 2007]

Development
Film FX Studio Goes Game
The LA Times reports on digital effects studio Digital Domain in this article, which is being transformed by film director and new co-chairman Michael Bay (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) into a game developer so that he can make a "video game that matches the quality of a feature film" so "capitalizing on the convergence between games and feature films." [15 May 07]

Development
Tantalus' Pony Friends
Melbourne developer Tantalus Interactive has released a nicely devised website for their upcoming Pony Friends DS game, check it out here. The company has also recently announced that it is developing Cars Mater-National, based on the Disney-Pixar film Cars, also for the DS and to be released this year by THQ. [9 May 07]

Media
TV and Video Games: Able to Co-exist?
TVWeek.com has an extensive conference related article on how the TV industry is looking to the game industry in the US to learn what might be applicable to its business. "The video game industry is very healthy: Americans shelled out more than $12.5 billion on those games last year, up from the record take of $10.5 billion in 2005. Meanwhile, worldwide advertising in video games will rise from $692 million last year to $1 billion this year, according to market research firm eMarketer. By 2011, that number should be nearly $2 billion. So it's no surprise that the TV industry is looking to this massive entertainment juggernaut for lessons that might be applicable to its business." For the article, click here. [8 May 07]

Industry
Its All About the Games
The Hollywood Reporter starts a recent article on picking winners in the game industry with "after an exhaustive 92-page report about video game stocks, UBS Investment Research analyst Benjamin Schachter came to a fairly obvious conclusion: "It's all about the games."" For the article, which quickly becomes a brief on current game industry analyst expectations, click here. [8 May 07]

Development
Developers Should Invent New Sports
Wired.com has an article on 'aesthletics,' which appears to describe the concept of creating new sports, and how it can relate to video game development: "Video-game players understand this implicitly: We often find that the thrill of a new game is in the process of mastering it -- not the mastery itself. (Indeed, once a video game is mastered we often stop playing it.) You never get this experience with an existing, well-known sport like soccer or football, because the rules have been exhaustively explored." For the article, click here. [7 May 07]

Retail
UK: Game Group Buys Gamestation
UK's Game Group Plc, owner of Australian based The Games Wizards which they bought in September 2006, has bought video game chain and number one UK competitor, Gamestation, from US Blockbuster for £74million. In a brief to market, available in pdf here, Game Group Plc describes Gamestation as having a strong pre-owned focussed, over 1,800 staff, and 217 stores in "secondary high street / shopping centre locations" with an "average of approx. 1,000 sq. ft. of selling space" and being "leasehold sites with an average period of 7 years." Game expects to run a dual brand strategy in the UK, believing Gamestation has a different customer appeal to Game stores. The Independent newspaper online, which says "demand for video games has received a significant boost from the launch of new gaming consoles from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo over the past year, with sales in the UK rapidly heading toward the £3bn mark" reports that "Game said the acquisition of Gamestation had not been driven by pressure to consolidate due to tough market conditions but instead by its growth plans." The Independent adds that "Game does not plan to close outlets and expects to add around 500 staff by opening 15 more stores this year." Game states that Gamestation had revenues of £203.5 million in 2006 with an EBITDA of £6.5 million and profit before tax of £2.1 million. The Telegraph newspaper online reports Peter Lewis, chairman of Game Group, saying "by investing in both brands we will further enhance the group's retail strategy while continuing to deliver and broaden our consumer reach. I am confident that this transaction will add considerable value to Game and its shareholders over the coming years." For the Independent article, click here, for the Telegraph article, click here. Game Group currently describes its acquisition of The Games Wizards as providing the "group with an established business and a low cost entry to this important market [Australia]." See here, bottom of page. [3 May 07]

Retail
Canberra's Irrational Games' BioShock in GameStop Exclusive
The world largest video game retailer, US based GameStop (owners of EB), has announced "that an exclusive, limited edition of the upcoming video game BioShock from 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc, will be available in GameStop and EB Games stores on August 21, 2007." To be available for X360 and PC the exclusive BioShock edition "will include a Big Daddy figurine, a behind the scenes DVD, a BioShock soundtrack CD and an embossed graphic cover art." For the press release, click here. BioShock is currently in development at Irrational Games' Canberra studio, for the local Irrational Games website click here. [1 May 07]

Society
Women Gamers
NBC4.com reports on a trend of growing numbers of older women gamers, noting "Deputy Attorney General Tonya Sapp is one of a growing number of women finding an outlet in the world of video games. "It helps really to relieve stress," said Sapp. "Sometimes I come home, I've had a bad day -- you know, I run around the countryside and shoot something to relieve tension. That's really what I like, the shoot-'em-up games." For the article, click here. [1 May 07]

Next Gen
Vista’s Direct X 10 – Cutting Edge
An article from the Kentucky Courier-Journal.com takes an all too brief look at what Vista’s Direct X 10 technology means for PC gaming. The opinions of a few studios are canvassed, including those behind Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures and Hellgate: London. For the article, click here. [30 Apr 07]

Online
SeedC Pacific's MixMaster Online
Recently established SeedC Pacific Pty Ltd says it will launch the second beta for the English version of MixMaster Online on 1st May 2007, with the official service to commence 18 May. The company explains MixMaster is a Japanese derived MMORPG which has “achieved incredible success in Japan and Korea, with 3000 to 30,000 users currently playing the game worldwide.” The first beta, launched at the start of April, was apparently a much bigger success than anticipated, with many more users than the expected 1000 signing up. The Australian company is a subsidiary of SeedC Japan (Mixmaster, Cardinal Saga, War Rock). For the website, click here. [30 Apr 07]

Media
EA Moves into Music Business
Electronic Arts has formed "their own music label in conjunction with Vancouver-based music company Nettwerk One Music to put artist's songs in Electronic Arts video games" reports this article, which also has a good run down on various aspects of the venture. EA will be using the label to find new stars that it can break into the big time through its video games while Nettwerk One Music has made a point of embracing digital downloads and spurning the use of litigation to manage copyright issues with fans and users. [29 Mar 2007] [top]

Industry
Mindscape: Quicky.com.au Casual Game site
Mindscape Asia Pacific have taken a bold step to set up a casual games website called Quicky.com.au. The website uses the whitelabel service of US based Macrovision company Trymedia Systems, Inc, a provider of secure digital distribution products and services for the video gaming industry, marked with Mindscape's new casual games web brand. Locally, Brisbane based N3VRF41L Publishing launched a site in October last year, n3vgames.com, also using the Trymedia Systems solution (see 'N3VRF41L Publishing: Digital Download Store'). For the Mindscape site, click here. [14 Mar 2007] [top]

Society
Mexican Mayor Rails Against Ghost Recon AW2
A Mayor in Mexico has "condemned the video game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2" according to the ElPasoTimes.com. "In an interview with the media, the mayor said that federal authorities should act immediately to prevent children and teenagers from being exposed to a clearly xenophobic idea that has nothing to do with the reality of the country or Mexico's best border region." For the article, click here. [9 Mar 2007] [top]

Events
GDC: Gears of War Heralded
Epic Games' X360 title Gears of War has taken out three awards at the Game Developers Conference, currently being held in the US, including best game. Reuters reports that "other top winners chosen by game makers were Clover Studio and Capcom Entertainment's nature-adventure game "Okami," which won awards for character design and innovation, and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s "Wii Sports," taking home prizes for game design and innovation." For the full article, click here. [8 Mar 2007] [top]

Online
JoWood and Metaboli Deal
Austrian developer and publisher JoWooD Productions has entered an agreement with French based Metaboli, "the leading European Games-On-Demand supplier," for Metaboli to offer selected JoWooD titles for download. JoWood says Metaboli is distributing games in France, Germany, UK, Canada, and Italy, while preparing for expansion into Spain and Scandinavia. Current and back catalogue JoWood games will be made available through Metaboli. For the Metaboli UK site, click here. In January of this year JoWood purchased Canadian publisher Dreamcatcher Inc (Painkiller, The Adventure Company game line): press release here. [7 Mar 2007] [top]

Development
Activision to Acquire Demonware
Activision has announced an agreement to purchase DemonWare established 2003, "the leading provider of network middleware technologies for console and PC games headquartered in Dublin, Ireland." Activision says the acquisition "will enable Activision to gain efficiencies related to online game development and positions the company to take advantage of the growth in online gameplay that will be driven by the next-generation consoles." For the press release click here. Demonware specialises in multiplayer matchmaking, community, and optimisation technology, used in Activision's Call of Duty 3. Activision says the transaction "is expected to be completed no later than the close of Activision's first quarter of fiscal year 2008." [7 Mar 2007] [top]

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