In its first weekend on the market in Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s PlayStation 2 has reached 980,000 units sold. This initial sales milestone blows away the original PlayStation's three-day mark in 1994 by nearly 10 times. A total of 26,400 retailers in Japan, including 18,500 convenience stores, approximately 7,900 retail stores, current PlayStation retailers, as well as PlayStation.com (Japan) Inc., began selling the PlayStation 2 units on March 4.

Want to know about events in Italy? Then visit ASIFA Italia's re-designed

Website at www.asifaitalia.org. The Italian-languaged site is a growing

destination for animation in Italy. The site features ASIFA events and

other information regarding the Italian animation organization.

On Tuesday, February 29, 2000, Shockwave and sponsor CYBERWORLD launched a

Stan Lee premiere, live on shockwave.com. The star-studded event was hosted

by Dick Clark. The celebrities on the attendee list were Tom Hanks, Keanu

Reeves, Michael Jackson, Richard Dreyfus, John Travolta, Quentin Tarantino

and Leonardo Dicaprio. Excerpts from the event will also be televised

internationally on ET and other entertainment news broadcasts. On

Wednesday, March 1, Stan Lee/CYBERWORLD content will launch on their site

The Oscar shortlisted INDESCRIBABLE NTH has been picked up for distribution

on the Net at AtomFilms. The deal between NTH's creators Character Builders

and AtomFilms covers domestic and foreign television showings as well as

airline programming and Internet distribution. The film follows the story

of a boy and his understanding of the indescribable feeling called love.





Read Maureen Furniss' review of THE INDESCRIBABLE NTH and the other

shortlisted films at

On February 14, 2000, the GOD THE DEVIL AND BOB Website launched to promote

the new series which debuts on NBC on Thursday, March 9, 2000 at 8:30 pm.

The series is produced by Carsey-Werner, the creators of 3RD ROCK FROM THE

SUN, THAT '70S SHOW and COSBY. GOD THE DEVIL AND BOB, created by Matthew

Carlson, centers around Bob Alman, a Detroit auto plant worker who has been

chosen by God to prove the world is worth saving after God and the Devil

Entertaindom.com, Time Warner's on-line entertainment destination, has

picked up 17 additional episodes of its smash hit, THE GOD & DEVIL SHOW

from Mondo Media, a leading creator and distributor of serial-based

animated content. THE GOD & DEVIL SHOW, an animated weekly "talk show"

launched on Entertaindom in November. Each week the show features hosts God

and the Devil interviewing then deciding the eternal fates of various

"celebrity" guests (including impersonations of Keith Richards, Bill Gates,

After UPN put DILBERT on an indefinite hiatus which starts March 14, the

producers of the cartoon series announced it would broadcast an episode of

the show along with rare outtakes on the Net. The 22-minute previously

aired episode entitled "The Merger" will air commercial-free on the Web

from February 17 - 29, 2000. Columbia/TriStar, who produces the show, will

become only the second major studio to enter into the Netcasting arena. In

November of 1999, Warner Bros. simulcast parts of an episode of "The Drew

Disney's Go Network has inked a 4-year agreement with eBay making it the

exclusive on-line auction site for Walt Disney's Web properties. Under

terms of the deal, eBay and the Go Network will create two co-branded

auction sites -- one to provide person to person transactions, the other

merchant to consumer sales, featuring goods from Disney's properties and

ESPN, among others. Disney will market the two sites through its Go

Network, a portfolio of Web sites that includes Disney.com, ABC.com and

The 3DO Company has signed an exclusive multi-year agreement with U.S.

Major League Baseball's 1999 Man of the Year, Sammy Sosa of the Chicago

Cubs. Sosa will help in the development and marketing of 3DO's baseball

franchise, SAMMY SOSA HIGH HEAT BASEBALL. In the February 2000 issue of

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD MAGAZINE, SAMMY SOSA HIGH HEAT 2000 was named "Best

Sports Game Of The Year" and PC GAMER MAGAZINE even went as far as to call

it "The Best Baseball Game Ever." "I agree with the gaming magazines that

Sega of America announced that LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC has

become a new third party publisher for the Sega Dreamcast. Scheduled to

ship Spring 2000, STAR WARS: EPISODE I RACER will be the first LucasArts

title to hit Dreamcast. LucasArts is committed to providing additional

titles in the future, adding to Sega's long list of third party publishers

and developers for Sega Dreamcast. Taking advantage of Dreamcast's Internet

capabilities, STAR WARS: EPISODE I RACER will allow gamers to post high

On February 29, 2000, comic book artist Marc Silvestri, creator of

WITCHBLADE, CYBER FORCE and DARKNESS, will be teaching fans and aspiring

artists how it's done through the first semester of on-line classes offered

at Eruptor.com. Silvestri will present a live, three-part series on

Eruptor's Web-based university, Eruptor College, to help students learn how

to produce layouts, refine characters and develop stories for comic books

of their own. The real-time class will allow Silvestri to answer questions

Joe Cartoon Company has filed a lawsuit against two entities, John

Zuccarini and Cupcake City, for the violation of the newly enacted

Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. The lawsuit is one of the first

cases filed under the anticybersquatting statute in the U.S. The act

outlaws the unauthorized use of an Internet domain name that is

"confusingly similar" to another name, for the purpose of intercepting

users of the pre-existing domain. Filed with United States District Court,

On February 1, 2000, Cartoon Network announced a broad expansion of

CartoonNetwork.com, the network's entertainment destination on the Web.

Kicking off the expansion is a heavy increase in original, interactive

entertainment. Over the next year, CartoonNetwork.com will more than double

production of its Web Premiere Toons. In addition, CartoonNetwork.com will

triple the number of games on the site; add functionality including

shopping and advanced search functions; and create a safe community aspect.

Tim Burton, creator of NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, has inked a deal to

bring a series of animated shorts featuring his Stainboy character to

shockwave.com. Viewers will be able to download the charcoal-drawn

superhero's first five-minute short sometime in Spring 2000. Under the

terms of the deal, Burton will keep full artistic control over the

characters and properties. The William Morris Agency brokered the deal

which allows for the cross over to TV if the shorts become a hit on the

Hitting the U.S. market April 2000, Humongous Entertainment will bring

families their new CD-ROM, PAJAMA SAM 3: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT FROM YOUR

HEAD TO YOUR FEET. Pajama Sam is back to uncover the mysterious

disappearance of four Peace Delegates who have not arrived at the Food

Pyramid for a Peace Conference. The suggested retail price will be $24.99.

On December 27, 1999, Activision, Inc. shipped VIGILANTE 8: SECOND OFFENSE

for the Sega Dreamcast. In this new adventure, players must stop the Coyote

terrorist gang that has traveled back through time in an attempt to change

the course of events that will allow evil to dominate the world. Developed

by Luxoflux Corp., the game features multiple modes of play -- single

player quest, arcade and survival mode, two-player versus, cooperative and

On January 5, 2000, Acclaim Entertainment started shipping their SOUTH PARK

RALLY for PlayStation with Nintendo 64, PC and Sega Dreamcast to follow

shortly. Developed by Tantalus Interactive, the kart-style racing adventure

features mission-based game modes and 27 characters from the Comedy Central

series. All versions of South Park Rally will include multiplayer modes

that feature races and cooperative game modes, including the multiplayer

On January 3, 2000, Activision, Inc. and id Software released QUAKE III

ARENA for Macintosh. The on-line multiplayer game features 26 deathmatch

and four capture-the-flag levels. The title is available at a suggested

retail price of $49.99. id Software offers such titles as Wolfenstein 3D,

DOOM, DOOM II, QUAKE and QUAKE II.

Disney/Pixar's TOY STORY 2 is coming to Sega Dreamcast. In March 2000,

Activision, Inc., in collaboration with Disney Interactive, will release

Disney/Pixar's TOY STORY 2: BUZZ LIGHTYEAR TO THE RESCUE for Sega

Dreamcast. The new release will be a third-person free-roaming adventure

game that uses 3D animation to deliver a unique mix of gameplay elements.

As Buzz Lightyear, players take on five big bosses in a quest to save Woody

from a toy collector over 15 levels.

Film.com has teamed-up with Troma, the production company responsible for

THE TOXIC ADVENGER, to bring the stop-motion clay characters of CRAPSTON

VILLAS to the Net. Set in Slumington, a fictional London neighborhood, this

ebony comedy is a wild soap opera spoof. The British down-to-Earth

blue-collar domestic drama features the voices of Jane Horrocks (Bubble in

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS and Little Voice in LITTLE VOICE) and Alison Steadman

(LIFE IS SWEET). The show originally aired on Britain's Channel 4 and won