Majesco will publish the videogame adaptation of the popular comicbook series, THE DARKNESS, for release in 2006. Starbreeze, the acclaimed development studio behind the top-selling videogame, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY, will develop the best-selling Top Cow comic.
Cdigix, an online movie and music service for college students, has inked its first studio content deals, acquiring movies and TV shows from the Walt Disney Co. and Turner Broadcasting, reports VARIETY.
With distribution deals with 21 colleges and universities, Cdigix will offer Disney films including THE INCREDIBLES and THE VILLAGE once they enter the video-on-demand. In addition, it will have programs from Disney-owned ESPN like WORLD SERIES OF POKER.
The Turner deal will see Cartoon Networks Adult Swim programming enter the Web.
For an animated Internet lampoon of the BALCO steroid scandal involving major league baseball players Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield has been lampooned by an Internet animation.
The two-minute cartoon, which can be viewed for free at www.TheHomerunGuys.com, was written and directed by Will Horan, who says he was inspired by the web animations that parodied the 2004 presidential election (by JibJab).
"I just wanted to do something funny and make people laugh" said Horan, who saw a tremendous jump in traffic with very little advertising.
Square Enix Inc. has announced the release of MUSASHI: SAMURAI LEGEND, now available at retailers nationwide. The action role-playing game is available exclusively for the PlayStation 2 and marks the series' debut on the platform.
Game Trust, the leading platform developer to manage premium casual games, announced development alliances with two of the hottest independent game development studios in the world Fuel Industries and Alter Ego Studios. These announcements follow the deals being inked at GDC.
Square Enix and Verizon Wireless announced the availability of two new Square Enix titles for Verizon Wireless' new V CAST service -- FINAL FANTASY VII SNOWBOARDING and MUSASHI MOBILE SAMURAI. MUSASHI MOBILE SAMURAI will be available beginning March 15, 2005. V CAST from Verizon Wireless is the nation's first third-generation (3G) wireless broadband multimedia service for consumers allowing them to view high-quality 3D games and video clips because it runs on the Verizon Wireless broadband EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) 3G network.
Alias announced that Hungary-based computer animation studio Digic Pictures and computer and videogame developer Black Hole Ent., both subsidiaries of Cinergi Interactive Llc, chose Alias software solutions as their core tools to produce the realtime strategy computer game (RTS) ARMIES OF EXIGO. The title is a fantasy RTS game where the boundaries of the battlefield are broken and war is waged both above and below the ground.
Mary Ann Skweres sniffs out the 411 on UVPhactorys CG stylings for Pete Misers hip-hop video, Scent of a Robot.
Microsoft Corp. announced the first details of its next-generation Xbox video game system platform at GDC, highlighting how hardware, software and services are being fused to power enhanced game and entertainment experiences.
Microsoft corporate vp and chief XNA architect J Allard further outlined the companys vision for the future of entertainment, citing the emergence of an HD Era in video games that is fueled by consumer demand for experiences that are always connected, always personalized and always in high-def.
Disney Interactive announced new details about its upcoming action/adventure title, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, for the PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox, Nintendo GameCub, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PC. Inspired by the upcoming highly anticipated motion picture from Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, the games will launch this holiday season, in conjunction with film's release.
Warner Bros. Online announced that IBM will provide the on-demand technology and services to power THE MATRIX ONLINE, Warner Bros. Interactive Ent.'s first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), co-published with SEGA of America. Based on THE MATRIX film trilogy, THE MATRIX ONLINE will be released in North America on March 22, 2005, and in Europe on April 8, 2005.
Subaru of America Inc. launched the latest redesign of its Website, www.subaru.com. Last year, the company began working with R/GA, a New York-based interactive agency to enhance the Subaru customer purchase and ownership experience online.
Ed Robertson, lead singer and guitar player for the multi-platinum rock band Barenaked Ladies, premiers in his first cameo role in this weeks special double-length 50th episode of the online Machinima series, RED VS. BLUE. Robertson plays Captain Flowers, the ill-fated leader of the Blue army.
This episode marks the third collaboration between Robertson and series creator Rooster Teeth Prods. Rooster Teeth created custom RED VS. BLUE clips that Barenaked Ladies showed on their last two concert tours of North America.
TLC Industries (www.tlcind.com) and Full Sail Real World Education (www.fullsail.com) announced the opening of the NextArcade Student Showcase (www.nextarcade.com). The site is designed to bring public exposure to creative works being created by top student developers. Participating schools include Full Sail Real World Education and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
At Amusement Showcase International in Chicago, Cecropia launched a preview of its first filmgame, called THE ACT, an interactive comedy about relationships, deception and the pursuit of romance. THE ACT gives players the unique experience of playing a game that feels more like a movie. Players control the characters' emotions while they experience the interactive story. The characters' feelings are apparent through highly skilled personality-centric animation, which is being animated by Cecropia's animators -- alumni of Disney Feature Film Animation Studios.
Cartoon Network will offer one up-and-coming game developer the opportunity to create a downloadable game featuring popular Cartoon Network characters from its series in the second annual 'Project Goldmaster' competition. As part of the Independent Games Festival (IGF), 10 finalists will be selected to compete to win the top honor to develop an online game for CartoonNetwork.com's Power Play Games area.
Gameloft, a leading developer and publisher of videogames for mobile phones, has signed an exclusive agreement with Viacom Consumer Products Inc. to develop, publish and distribute the wireless game version of Steven Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS starring Tom Cruise.
Sony Online Ent. Inc. (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming, announced information on the release of THE BLOODLINE CHRONICLES, the first Adventure Pack for the hit online fantasy game EVERQUEST II. THE BLOODLINE CHRONICLES gives players hours of new content in a rich, story-based realm located beneath the surface of Norrath. THE BLOODLINE CHRONICLES will be available via digital download beginning March 21, 2005, for US $4.99, and requires a current subscription to EVERQUEST II to play.
Sliced Bread Animation have been commissioned by Sony Europe to produce a 24-part original online animation series to be broadcast weekly exclusively on the My Sony magazine Website (www.sony.co.uk/trona).
JAKKS Pacific Inc. announced an expanded licensing agreement with Nickelodeon and Warner Bros. Consumer Products.
Gamers will get to play Dirty Harry, literally, in a new series of videogames Warner Bros. Interactive Ent. and Clint Eastwood's Malpaso and The Tehama Companies are producing based on the DIRTY HARRY film franchise, introducing the legendary detective "Dirty Harry" Callahan to the interactive world for the first time on next generation consoles.
Academy Award-winning director, producer and actor Eastwood is consulting on key creative aspects of the game design and will lend his voice and likeness to his renowned role of police detective Harry Callahan.
The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art is hosting its second online exhibit titled, NOW THEN. The theme of the exhibit is -- what did professional comic artists draw like when they were 12 years old?
Comic artist Dave Bamundo had the idea for an exhibit that featured comic artists current work, compared to something they had done as a child. This idea was combined with Robert Zimmermans idea to poll professional comic artists, asking who their favorites in the business were. The top 25 artists current and childhood are displayed in the exhibit.
THQ Inc. and Warner Bros. Interactive Ent. have released CONSTANTINE for PlayStation2, Xbox retailers across North America. The game, developed by Bits Studios, is based on the Warner Bros. Pictures motion picture CONSTANTINE, an adaptation of the DC Comics/Vertigo HELLBLAZER graphic novels.
JAKKS Pacific Inc. introduces the GAMEKEY expansion pack, the new next-generation innovation for its award-winning plug-it-in and play TV Games product line. GAMEKEY expansion pack offers users the opportunity to add extra games made specifically for their favorite TV Games controllers.
Microsoft Corp. announced today (Feb.17, 2005) that it will voluntarily replace the power cords on 14.1 million Xbox consoles worldwide as a precautionary measure and out of concern for consumer safety.
