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Category: Interactive

Headline News

Macromedia Brings Flash Support To Sony's Handheld Devices

Macromedia has announced that Sony's new CLIE NX-series handheld devices are the first to feature Macromedia Flash Player support on Palm OS. The CLIE PEG-NX70V and PEG-NX60 models are the latest Sony Entertainment handhelds powered by a 200MHz ARM-compliant processor and enhanced by the new Palm OS 5 operating system. These new devices enable users to take photos and record video clips, record voice memos and wirelessly browse the Internet on a Wi-Fi (802.11b) network with an optional Sony wireless LAN card, in addition to playing MP3 audio files and video games.

Headline News

Casper Makes His Debut On Nintendo Gamecube

Just in time for Halloween, TDK Mediactive, Inc. has shipped CASPER SPIRIT DIMENSIONS for the Nintendo GameCube. Gamers will spiral into phantom dimensions to battle for the fate of the spirit world in this new game, where portals transport gamers into mysterious realms that are populated by ghosts of the past, present and future, all possessed by the evil Kibosh. Sixteen levels and four distinct worlds can be fully explored through 360-degree full flight movement in a quest to become the quickest, smartest and most powerful ghost in the Spirit Dimension.

Headline News

Take A Wild Ride With World's Greatest Coasters

Now you can experience some of the world's greatest roller coasters without ever leaving your home. Global Star Software, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive will soon be releasing a new roller coaster simulator for the PC platform, WORLD'S GREATEST COASTERS. This exciting new 3D simulation will feature five of the greatest roller coasters on the planet, as well as a virtual coaster workshop in which players can build and experience their very own thrill rides and challenge themselves in the scenario-based game mode.

Game Headline News

BAM! Entertainment Launches Reign Of Fire

BAM! Entertainment, a publisher and developer of interactive entertainment software, is bringing the man vs. beast action of REIGN OF FIRE to all next-generation game consoles in time for the holiday season. REIGN OF FIRE for PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance will be available at the end of October 2002, while the Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube versions of the game will ship to retail by mid-November 2002.

Online Headline News

Viewpoint and America Online Expand Relationship

Viewpoint Corporation, a leading provider of interactive media technologies and services, announced that it has expanded its relationship with America Online, Inc. to cover use of Viewpoint technology for new features in AOL 8.0, Instant Messaging, and within other applications. The new arrangement involves use of Viewpoint interactive graphics within the recently released AOL 8.0 client, including many facets of the AOL desktop.

Headline News

Atomfilms Offers Aardman Fans A Cracking Good Time

Wallace & Gromit's CRACKING CONTRAPTIONS, a new series of ten short films from Aardman Animation, premiered online October 15, 2002, on AtomFilms.com. The first episode, titled "Soccamatic," is currently available for free, but on October 22, the entire CRACKING CONTRAPTIONS series will only be available to Atoms online subscribers. CRACKING CONTRAPTIONS marks the first new appearances from Wallace and Gromit in seven years. Each of the ten episodes showcases one of Wallace's ingenious mechanical inventions in storylines that range from one to three minutes apiece.

Game Headline News

Muzzy Lane Makes History

Educational software company Muzzy Lane has licensed NDL's NetImmerse 3D game engine and development toolkit and Quazal's Eterna game connectivity software to create a series of historical simulation games designed for the classroom. Aimed at high school and college students, Muzzy Lane's network-based strategy games will combine historical accuracy with engaging game play in scenarios that are appropriate as homework or classroom activities. To learn about World War II for example, students can focus not only on military strategies but on diplomacy, geography and economics as well.

Headline News

THQ Powers Up Jimmy Neutron Video Games

THQ Inc. and Nickelodeon have released two new video games based on the popular Nickelodeon property Jimmy Neutron. JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS for PlayStation2 and THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY NEUTRON VS. JIMMY NEGATRON for Game Boy Advance are now available at retail outlets nationwide. The PlayStation 2 version is based on the digitally animated motion picture, JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS, while the Game Boy Advance version is based on the Nickelodeon television series. In JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS for PlayStation 2, players take on the role of Jimmy with his robot dog Goddard at his side.

Interactive Headline News

Click 3xi Designs Interactive Games For Hallmark’s Crayola Kids Club

Click 3xi, the interactive design division of New York-based Click 3x, recently designed a series of interactive television games that teach young children about science. Developed for the Crayola Kids Club, an interactive television service from the Hallmark Channel and Crown Interactive, Click 3xi designed the interface and provided scores of computer-animated elements illustrating the outcomes of all the potential choices that can be made during game play. The studio worked hand in hand with the Hallmark Interactive staff, who designed the game architecture and handled the programming.

Headline News

Dragon's Lair Returns With A 20th Anniversary Box Set

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original arcade release of the hit video game DRAGON'S LAIR, interactive DVD publisher Digital Leisure is producing a special edition DVD box set of the three arcade classics created by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy. DRAGON'S LAIR, SPACE ACE and DRAGON'S LAIR II: TIME WARP are fully interactive games that include scenes from the original arcade releases. Optionally, players may select new scenes that were animated in 1983 but not included in any previous DRAGON'S LAIR release.

Game Headline News

Sony Unveils Revamped Playstation Website

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. has updated its PlayStation.com Website with a new look and feel specifically designed to target loyal PlayStation gamers. The new design has been tailored explicitly to keep gamers up-to-date on the latest PlayStation offerings, allowing fans to find the games that interest them quickly and easily with the game finder search tool. The site also features in-depth hardware and software information, including advance links between titles and hardware that help users easily find peripherals that support games they choose.

Mobile Headline News

Marvel Superheroes Add Muscle To Mobile Messaging

Visual communications software provider Eyematic has joined with Verizon Wireless to offer Shout Messenger, the first animated mobile messaging application in the U.S. Shout Messenger allows Verizon Wireless' "Get It Now" subscribers to personalize their mobile messages with Marvel superheroes animated in full color, including Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk and X-Men characters. Shout Messenger subscribers first enter their text, then select a famous hero from the Marvel universe and an animation corresponding to the emotional tone of their message.

Games Headline News

Marvel Superheroes Play Online

Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The X-Men and 4,700 other characters from the Marvel universe are part of a 10-year worldwide licensing agreement between Vivendi Universal Publishing (VU Publishing) and Marvel Enterprises, Inc. The arrangement grants VU Publishing's games division (VU Games) the right to develop and publish online massively multi-player (OLMMP) games based on Marvel's superheroes. The first OLMMP title under the new agreement is targeted for release in 2005.

Animation Headline News

Animation On Air

Animator Joe Blackwell is taking animation to the airwaves with the debut of B.R.A.T.S. (Blackwell's Radio Animation Talk Show), a new weekly radio program featuring highlights from the world of animation. The show promises behind the scenes discussions of video games, television commercials, movies and Websites, as well as interviews with members of the animation community. Originating in New York City and also broadcast in New Jersey, B.R.A.T.S airs on WJUX 103.1FM and is simulcast on 94.3FM and 99.7FM in the New York and New Jersey area.

Game Headline News

Comedycentral.com Is Just For Men With New Online Game

comedycentral.com, MAXIM magazine and Combe Incorporated have joined forces to produce "The Maxim Player Generator Game." MAXIM magazine licensed its name to Combe, makers of the Just For Men brand of hair color, to help promote a new hair color line aimed at young adult men. To market the new brand, the companies turned to comedycentral.com to provide an online animated game. Glenn Ginsburg, vice president, interactive sales for Comedy Central, said, "Combe was looking for innovative ways to market both a new product and product category to a young male demo.

Games Headline News

4Kids Connects With Konami For Mutant Turtle Games

4Kids Entertainment, Inc., the worldwide agent and co-producer of the new TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES series, has announced that Konami Corporation will be the exclusive worldwide developer and publisher of video games based on the upcoming animated show. The series is currently in production and is scheduled to debut on the FOX BOX in the first quarter of 2003. Konami was the game developer for the original TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES phenomenon, and created games in the late 1980s and early `90s for the property, which grossed nearly half a billion dollars.

Headline News

Harry Potter And Tim Burton, Yours To Download

CinemaNow, Inc. has signed a licensing agreement with Warner Home Video to deliver selected Warner Bros. films via the CinemaNow Website at www.cinemanow.com. This is the first major studio deal made by CinemaNow, an online video service that has previously offered films from independent companies. The service is majority owned by independent production company Lions Gate Entertainment and counts Microsoft Corp. and the video chain Blockbuster among its minority shareholders. The Warner library will be made available on the Internet in a secure, protected download format.

Games Headline News

Midway Games School Shooting Lawsuit Dismissed

Video games are fast becoming the nation's number one source of entertainment, but, as with movies, the content of these games is often cited as the cause of violent behavior in young adults. Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit dismissed all actions against Chicago-based Midway Games Inc., and other entertainment providers in the case arising out of a school shooting that took place at Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky on December 1, 1997. High school student Michael Carneal killed three fellow students and wounded several others.

Headline News

Alias|Wavefront's Maya Enhances Unreal Tournament 2003

Alias|Wavefront continues its drive to make its Maya software more accessible to non-professional users by providing a copy of its Maya Personal Learning edition with the upcoming PC game release Unreal Tournament 2003 (UT2003). UT2003, which was developed by Digital Extremes in collaboration with Epic Games, Inc. and is distributed by Infogrames, Inc., will come bundled with a copy of Maya Personal Learning Edition and a special plug-in, jointly developed by Epic and San Francisco-based Secret Level, Inc.

Game Headline News

Game Developer Magazine Publishes Game Career Guide

The U.S. video game industry grew 43% in 2001, and remains a hotbed of career opportunity in a struggling economy. In response, GAME DEVELOPER magazine has published its first "Game Career Guide." In this special issue of Game Developer, game industry veterans provide valuable information to aspiring developers, including an overview of careers in game development and the skills they require, along with a comprehensive directory of game development schools and programs.

Series Headline News

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Bites Back On Xbox

Popular action series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER has been transformed into a first-person combat game for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft. Taking on the role of Buffy Summers, fans of the TV series will enjoy progressing through the game, recognizing familiar characters and hang outs. Players can learn more than 50 fighting moves and polish their "slayer" abilities to gain experience and power. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER for the Xbox was developed by The Collective and is co-published by Electronic Arts and Fox Interactive.

Animation Headline News

Ghostgirl.Com, Where Popularity Is A Matter Of Life And Death

Independent filmmaker Tonya Hurley has launched Ghostgirl.com, a new Website that introduces Charlotte Usher, an unpopular girl who wakes up dead one day and finds herself just as unappreciated in the world of the Great Beyond. The site, aimed at teens and tweens, features Flash animation, weekly comic strips, games, tips and quizzes. GHOSTGIRL is based on a story and screenplay by Hurley and was produced by JOHNNY BRAVO creator Van Partible. Hurley has written and directed numerous short projects, both animation and documentary.

Headline News

Focus’ FS454 Chip To Help Reduce The Cost Of Xbox

Focus Enhancements, a designer of proprietary video technology for the computer and television industries, has developed the FS454 TV-Out chip for Microsoft's Xbox, to assist in Microsoft's continuing effort to reduce the cost of its next generation video game system. In May 2001, Microsoft and Focus Enhancements began an OEM development program to produce low-cost TV-Out technology with fine text capabilities that would fit into the existing Xbox configuration, as part of a cost reduction effort.

Headline News

Midway Games Licenses AI. Implant For Action/Adventure Title

Game developer and publisher Midway Games Inc. has recently licensed BioGraphic Technologies recently released AI.implant SDK for an action-adventure game in production for next generation platforms. AI.implant is a powerful real-time interactive commercial artificial intelligence animation solution that enables digital content creators to create rich AI character interactions. "We are extremely pleased to have Midway as a partner," said Dr. Paul Kruszewski, president and founder of BioGraphic Technologies.

Animated Headline News

Bill Plympton Animates His New Feature Film Live On The Web

For the first time in animation and internet history, the public willbe able to watch an entire animated feature being drawn beforetheir eyes. On Monday, September 16, 2002, Bill Plympton will begin drawing hisnew animated feature, HAIR HIGH, and it will all be done live on theinternet. There will be a camera looking over Bill's shoulder, and from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (EST) everyday you can watch as he single-handedly draws hisnew animated extravaganza. The "ani-cam" will be available at http://www.hairhigh.com. More information to come!

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