Category: Interactive

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!

Interactive entertainment software publisher TDK Mediactive, Inc. will be issuing a Collector's Edition for the fall launch of the video game ROBOTECH: BATTLECRY, available on the PlayStation2, Xbox and GameCube game systems. Each limited edition box will be individually numbered, and include the ROBOTECH: BATTLECRY video game, the game soundtrack featuring re-recorded versions of the original series' music, a specially designed T-shirt, exclusive artwork including a lenticular motion card, and a Defense Force dog tag. "ROBOTECH is a strong property with a very big following.

Take-Two Interactive Software is expanding its Rockstar Games label with the formation of Rockstar Vancouver. Take-Two acquired Vancouver-based Barking Dog Studios, Ltd. for $3 million in cash and 242,450 shares of restricted common stock. Barking Dog will be renamed Rockstar Vancouver. Barking Dog Studios currently employs approximately fifty developers, and is working on a yet to be announced military video game to be published under the Rockstar brand, and will soon begin development on a second original video game title for Rockstar.

Take-Two Interactive Software,Inc. has formed Gotham Games, a new entertainment software publishinglabel, launched to specifically focus on publishing contentaccessible to consumers of all ages. All of Take-Two's softwareproducts for the PlayStation game console will be published under theGotham brand, along with a selection of upcoming titles to bepublished across multiple platforms. The company has named Take-TwoVP of publishing and business development Jamie Leece to head Gotham

Maryland-based game development company Firaxis Games has licensed the NetImmerse 3D graphics engine and toolkit from software developer NDL to use on multiple future titles. Firaxis was founded in 1996 by veteran gaming executive Jeff Briggs and designer Sid Meier. The company selected the NetImmerse engine after extensively researching many different options, according to Mike Gibson, director of development for Firaxis.

Debuting on PCscreens before hitting the big screen, the STUART LITTLE 2 game forCD-ROM from Infogrames, Inc. lets players in on action scenes fromthe STUART LITTLE 2 motion picture. The game also features a photogallery of still photos taken directly from the movie. NancyMacIntyre, vice president of marketing for Infogrames' Beverly Studiosaid, "We were very pleased with the performance of our first STUARTLITTLE CD-ROM game and are thrilled to be launching this new game in

New York basedPossible Worlds shares more than part of their name with Disney'slatest creation KIM POSSIBLE. The interactive animation studio hasturned the animated crime-fighting teenager into a live animatedcharacter through the use of their proprietary software, Kabuki.Disney's KIM POSSIBLE series debuted June 7, 2002 on the DisneyChannel, and the "live" Kim gave her first performance during aSatellite Media Tour broadcast from New York on June 12. Newscasters

THQ Inc. has released SCOOBY-DOO! for Game Boy Advance, based on the live-action/CGI movie coming to theaters on June 14, 2002. Players will explore locations featured in the movie, searching for clues to complete missions and ultimately, solve Spooky Island's big mystery. The environments for the game were inspired by actual movie stills and artwork. THQ will also be releasing SCOOBY-DOO! NIGHT OF 100 FRIGHTS, for PlayStation 2 and GameCube, later in 2002.

Digital content and design studio Super-Fi has recently completed an original online game and a series of online trading cards for tvland.com, the classic TV cable channel's Website. Both the game and the trading cards are part of tvland.com's BATMAN Website, promoting the classic live-action series that originally aired from 1966-68. TV Land currently airs BATMAN daily at 7:00 pm. Super-Fi worked in collaboration with tvland.coms creative director Michael Gaylord and head producer Steven Wishnoff to ensure the aesthetic integration of the game and trading cards into the BATMAN site.

At the 2002 E3Expo, children's video game publisher NewKidCo International Inc. unveiled their 2002 line up of next generation games based on properties in their catalog of licensees. New video games scheduled for release in 2002 include: titles based on both TOM AND JERRY and E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL for PlayStation2, GameCube and Game Boy Advance; DORA THE EXPLORER: THE HUNT FOR PIRATE PIG'S TREASURE for Game Boy Advance; THE SUPER STOO-PENDOUS WORLD OF DR. SEUSS for Game Boy Advance; and MUPPET PINBALL MAYHEM for Game Boy Advance.

Neighborhood friends ED, EDD N EDDY will soon be searching for jawbreakers on Game Boy Advance. Los Angeles-based videogame publisher Crave Entertainment has signed a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to develop a Game Boy Advance title based on the Cartoon Network series. The title is anticipated to ship in Fall 2002. The game will mirror the three friends' television quest to make money to buy jawbreakers. The object of the game is to help the Ed's win a contest whose grand prize is, of course, a lifetime supply of jawbreakers.

Just one month after slashing Xbox prices in Europe and Australia, Microsoft has followed suit in the U.S., marking down its Xbox game console to $199, $100 less than it was originally priced. Sony and Nintendo have also announced discounts to their next-generation consoles. Sony's PlayStation2 will be available for $199 (down from $299), while Nintendo's GameCube, always the lowest priced of the three, will now be priced at $149, $50 less than before.