Paramount Pictures Signs To Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store

Paramount Pictures added to the momentum of Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store in the UK, by confirming today that it is extending its partnership with Microsoft Corp. to bring its catalogue of current and library films to the UK as well. This means that all Xbox 360 owners connected to Xbox LIVE can now download-to-rent both high definition and standard definition Paramount Pictures movies direct to their console via Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store. With this latest partnership, Xbox 360 aims to place itself at the centre of digital entertainment in the living room, giving consumers the best in high definition games, movies and music videos along with access to friends, digital music and pictures.

From Tuesday 19th February, ‘Transformers’, those robots in disguise, will get a LIVE action outing as the war between the evil Decepticons and the heroic Autobots erupts on Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store along with other Paramount blockbusters. Available in SD and/or HD formats, download-to-rent films will cost from as little as 250 Microsoft Points (*ERP £2) for standard definition movies and from 380 Microsoft Points (*ERP £3.20) for high definition movies.

Robin Burrowes, Xbox LIVE Marketing Manager UK, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division commented: “We are really happy to be able to welcome Paramount to Xbox LIVE Marketplace in UK. This announcement gives our Video Store customers in the UK an even greater choice of entertainment with a great level of HD movie quality, as always.”

Alex Carloss, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Worldwide Digital Distribution, Paramount Digital Entertainment - one of the key studio partners when Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store launched in the US - commented on the expansion into Europe : “We’re excited to be involved in the acceleration phase of the European launch of Xbox LIVE’s Video Store and look forward to watching this service grow. To deliver Paramount’s top films to people in their living room via a games console fits perfectly with our global digital distribution strategy.”

Paramount Pictures / DreamWorks movies coming to Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store this Spring include:

· Transformers (available in SD and HD)
· Goodbye Bafana (available in SD and HD)
· Intersection (available in SD)
· Primal Fear (available in SD)
· Clear and Present Danger (available in SD)
· Naked Gun 2 & 1/2: The Smell of Fear (available in SD)
· Naked Gun 33 & 1/3 (available in SD)
· Top Secret! (available in SD)
· Bug (available in SD)
· Hardball (available in SD)
· The Phantom (available in SD)
· Orange County (available in SD)
· 1408 (available in SD and HD)
· Disturbia (available in SD and HD)
· Hot Rod (available in SD and HD)
· A Mighty Heart (available in SD and HD)
· Heartbreak Kid (available in SD and HD)
· Stardust (available in SD and HD)
· In to the Wild (available in SD and HD)

Additional movies from Warner Bros will also be added to the service this Spring. Many films will be available in high definition. They include:

· The Assassination of Jesse James (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)
· Beowulf (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)
· License to Wed (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)
· No Reservations (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)
· The December Boys (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)
· Nancy Drew (Warner Bros, available in SD and HD)

The diverse list of new content means there are even more incredible entertainment choices on Xbox LIVE for everyone in the family. All gamers in the UK, France, Germany and Ireland need to access this service with both an Xbox Live Silver or Gold membership and a broadband connection. More information about the content available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store can be found at: www.xbox.com

2nd Year, Twice As Big, The Elan Awards Deliver The Winners

Last night the Video Game, Animation Industry and Digital Art Students turned out in full force to celebrate Canadian supremacy in the fastest growing entertainment industry in the world. Canadian video game developers and publishers, animators and studio heads and the brightest students and top academia gathered at 2nd Annual Elan Awards held at The Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts in eager anticipation to learn the winning names behind some of the biggest games and shows in North America.

This year’s show also saw the Elan Awards open up to include International Award Categories attracting companies such as Microsoft, DreamWorks SKG, Insomniac Games, EA USA, VIZ Media and, of course, Fuzzy Door Productions that is the brain child of this year’s Host, Seth MacFarlane. MacFarlane lived up to his enormous reputation as one of the Industry’s top talents and rewarded the room full of top Video Game and Animation Talent/Execs with a hilarious “classic Seth” performance including a singing “Stewie” final act to close the show. The night went on to see MacFarlane win his first Elan in the category of “Best International Animated Television Production” for FAMILY GUY.

Nick Fletcher, Producer of DreamWork’s the BEE MOVIE flew in from Los Angeles to accept the “Producer’s Choice for the Inaugural Best Animated Feature” and Don Mattrick, recipient of this year’s “Video Game Hall of Fame” sent a message of acceptance to the evening’s attendees: “I wanted to send a very sincere thank you for this Video Game Hall of Fame Award. I am truly honored to be selected, and sorry that I can’t be there to accept in person. Congratulations to all the other winners at the Canadian Awards for Electronic Arts & Animation! Thanks should also go to Holly Carinci and Jack Weatherell for putting all this together. Hope you all enjoy the evening”.

And on that note, the winners from last night’s 2nd Annual Elan Awards are:

ANIMATION CATEGORIES

1. BEST FEATURE LENGTH ANIMATED PRODUCTION

Barbie as the Island Princess Rainmaker Animation Jennifer Twiner Mccarron

2. THE SEVEN GROUP AWARD FOR BEST ANIMATED PRODUCTION (Television Series)

Edgar & Ellen Bardel Entertainment Delna Bhesania, Barry Ward, Trish Lindsay, Barbara Ferro

3. BEST ANIMATED SHORT SUBJECT

Yellow Sticky Notes Jeff Chiba Stearns

4. BEST DIRECTION in a FEATURE LENGTH ANIMATED PRODUCTION

Barbie as the Island Princess Rainmaker Animation Greg Richardson

5. BEST DIRECTION in an ANIMATED TELEVISION SERIES

Ruby Gloom: Venus de Gloomsville Nelvana LTD Robin Budd

6. BEST MALE VOICE OVER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE OR TELEVISION PRODUCTION

Lee Tockar George of the Jungle Studio B

7. BEST FEMALE VOICE OVER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE OR TELEVISION PRODUCTION

Marÿke Hendrikse Johnny Test Cookie Jar Entertainment

8. BEST ORIGINAL MUSICAL SCORE

Bruno and the Banana Bunch Cuppa Coffee Studios Adam Goddard

9. BEST STORYBOARDING

George of the Jungle: Naked Ape Man Studio B Dennis Crawford / Lyn Hart

10. BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN OR ART DIRECTION

Edgar & Ellen: Crushed Bardel Entertainment Greg Huculak and Zoe Evamy

11. BEST WRITING IN AN ANIMATED PRODUCTION

Storm Hawks Nerd Corps Entertainment Rob Hoegee

12. THE ELECTRONIC ART’S AWARD FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED PRODUCTION (Television Series)

Family Guy Fuzzy Door Productions Seth MacFarlane, David A. Goodman, Chris Sheridan, Danny Smith

13.THE INAUGURAL AWARD FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED PRODUCTION (Feature)

Bee Movie: Dreamworks Animation SKG

14. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN ANIMATION

Kai Pindal

'Rhiannon' Back on Track for Summer '08 Release

Independent adventure game producer Arberth Studios has updated its Website with yet more details of its forthcoming title 'Rhiannon: Beyond the Mabinogion', including a range of screenshots giving some indication of the sheer scale of the game arena and clearly demonstrating the game's high production values. A video trailer is also available.

But wasn't 'Rhiannon' due to be out by now? Game engineer Noel Bruton admits, "we conducted a build of the game last September, and we found we weren't content with the graphics. So we started again at a larger screen size and more colour depth. It's meant we had to render everything again from the models, effectively starting from scratch. But the upside is that 'Rhiannon' is now even more atmospheric and importantly, we're on course to release the game in Summer 2008."

'Rhiannon' weaves classic Celtic legends of revenge into a modern-day setting in a run-down Welsh country house and grounds. The game is aimed squarely at the first-person point-and-click market. Although it is violence-free, it is decidedly not for young children. Its intricate plot deals with numerous grown-up themes from the ancient to the contemporary. It blends magic with technology, fact with myth, horror with compassion and classicism with metaphysics. It is a feast for lovers of ghost stories, mystery, legend and puzzles.

Further details at http://www.arberthstudios.com.

Fashion Boutique enjoys a glamorous grand opening!

Total Eclipse (www.totaleclipsegames.com) is proud to announce that their latest title, Fashion Boutique, is now available. Manage several floundering clothing stores on the East Coast of America on your quest to bring them financial success in this time management game for the fashion crowd.

Fashion Boutique features 5 different stores of 10 stages each. Handle 12 challenging customer types as they bring the game to life, each with their own demands and quirks. As you progress through the game you will move from city to city and at the same time earn new garments for your wardrobe, which you can use to dress the main character, as you like. At several intervals in the game you’ll be presented with a Dress up mini game, both as a memory challenge, as well as in free play mode. The easy going soundtrack coupled with immersive sounds and voice-overs create a well rounded gaming experience you will be sure to enjoy!

Playing Fashion Boutique is simple but it requires quick reflexes. As customers come in the store, you have to serve them by bringing the items they order, drag them to changing rooms, so they can try their new clothes on and then taking them to the counter so they can pay. A fun twist introduced early in the game is called Upselling and it allows you to get the customer to buy something else as well, using your sales ability. You can win back customers who lose hearts when they are kept waiting using your charisma to flirt with the men and compliment the ladies. To increase your abilities, you can choose how to spend your free time during the weekends when you are not working at the boutique. Those choices will also affect the development of the story, which is presented through gorgeously illustrated comic cut scenes.

The Fashion World awaits you! Experience the thrill for yourself by downloading the free demo from the official Fashion Boutique website at www.fashionboutiquegame.com.

Exit Games Announces Neutron Integration With Airplay Platform To Enable Multiplayer 3D Mobile Games

Exit Games, a world leading service provider of mobile and online multiplayer gaming, today announced that it will integrate Neutron, its cross-platform multiplayer gaming technology, with AirplayÔ, the ground-breaking native mobile games platform from Ideaworks3D.

Under terms of the agreement, Airplay and Neutron will combine forces to offer mobile game developers a complete solution for multiplayer mobile game development. The addition of Neutron to the Airplay development platform provides developers with the rock solid framework needed to simplify the development of multiplayer mobile games and social communities. Enhanced connectivity features including in-game voice/text chat, real-time multiplayer gaming, leader boards, in-game billing capabilities, and advertisement delivery are all part of the offering. Airplay provides a powerful integrated C++ development environment, which allows a single native application binary to be deployed unmodified to every accessible native platform, including BREW, N-Gage, Symbian OS (Series60 and UIQ3), Windows Mobile, Linux and selected RTOS environments.

“Joining forces with Ideaworks3D falls right in line with our overall goal of reducing the complexity and the cost of development for multiplayer mobile titles,” said Tom Sperry, CEO of Exit Games. “As companies increasingly turn to connected mobile gaming features, we’re confident that Neutron and Airplay will stand out as leading technologies that push the industry forward.”

“The multiplayer mobile gaming capabilities that Neutron brings to Airplay will lead to the development of advanced, connected, and entertaining 3D titles,” added Alex Caccia, CEO of Ideaworks3D. “The Airplay platform is open for middleware providers to bring their additional value to the offering. We’re now in a great position to provide a connected, graphically-rich and cost-effective development platform that addresses the needs of mobile developers and publishers today”.

Exit Games will be exhibiting at Mobile World Congress (Feb. 11-14 in Barcelona) and Game Developer Conference (Feb. 18-22 in San Francisco).

D3Publisher Of America And Vicious Cycle Software's Dead Head Fred Wins WGA's First-Ever Videogame Writing Award

Dead Head Fred, the critically acclaimed videogame created specifically for the PSP (PlayStationPortable) by publisher D3Publisher of America, Inc. (D3PA), and developer Vicious Cycle Software, Inc., has won the Writers Guild of America's inaugural Videogame Writing Award. The 2008 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, documentary, radio, promotion, and videogames during 2007 were announced on Saturday, February 9th.

"D3PA and the entire Dead Head Fred team at Vicious Cycle are all very grateful and humbled by this award," said Yoji Takenaka, executive vice president and chief operations officer, D3PA. "We look forward to bringing fans many more top quality games and continuing to elevate the standard of game writing in the industry."

Developed by the WGA and spearheaded by the Guild's New Media Caucus to encourage storytelling excellence in videogames, improve the status of writers, and foster uniform standards within the gaming industry, the WGA's inaugural Videogame Writing Award spotlights quality work by videogame writers, raising their profiles, and validating their contributions to this rapidly maturing medium. The WGA Videogame Writing Award honors the best qualifying script from a videogame published in the previous year.

"Being nominated along with so many top caliber writers for the first WGA Video Game Writing Award was an honor in itself, so it's fantastic that we won," said Eric Peterson, president and chief executive officer, Vicious Cycle Software. "Dead Head Fred was something we had a lot of fun with and we are glad that players and fans are enjoying the game as much as we do."

Dead Head Fred is rated "M" (Mature - Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor and Strong Language) by the ESRB. In Dead Head Fred, writers and nominees Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan draw players into an original 1940's-inspired alternative universe where players take on the role of Fred Neuman, a private detective savagely murdered and then resurrected in a bizarre scientific experiment without his memory or his head. Players embark on a quest for vengeance as they solve their own murder by using the severed heads of enemies as replacements for the one missing on the game's cranium-impaired hero.

Amazon Software Download Store to include video games soon

A job posting on Gamasutra suggests Amazon will soon start a PC game download store to compliment Unbox, its video-on-demand service, and the site's MP3 download store. The job posting asks programmer/engineers to apply to become a part of the Software and Video Games Digital Technology Team at Amazon, which is "responsible for digital distribution of software and video game products from the Amazon website, including the newly launched Amazon Software Download store."

The job posting itself is unsurprising as Amazon recently launched the software branch of its download services, but the job post includes the bit about the distribution of "video game products," which is currently not happening at the Amazon Software Download Store. The only software presently available from the very new service is unfortunately tax software.

But fear not! We're sure a few competent souls will apply, molding the new service into a very happy reality for those of us that hate visiting and supporting major retail stores like Best Buy and Circuit City.

From: Downloadsquad

Video Games To Be Official Welcome Event At 2008 Olympics

They aren’t turning video games into an official Olympic sport just yet, but they will become an official welcome event at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The Global Gaming League (GGL) has already sealed the deal that will make video games a part of the festivities.

Currently, there is a tournament planned along with other various events of competitive gaming and contests.

From FileFront

AMBX ARRIVES ON GOOGLE EARTH, ITUNES, QUICKTIME AND MORE

Philips today announced that amBX FXGen+ lighting effects can now be experienced with Google Earth, iTunes, QuickTime, VLC, Media Player Classic, MediaPortal, Zoom Player and Windows Media Center, through Windows XP or Windows Vista. As Windows Media Center and MediaPortal both support TV tuners, users are even able to experience amBX FXGen+ lighting when watching live TV. All the applications support surround and multi-location lighting and the announcement demonstrates just how versatile the ambient experiences platform has become outside the gaming arena.

These latest media applications will also run alongside the all-new amBX Illuminate, an easy to use background application which allows users to set their amBX lighting to any default colour, using hue, saturation and lightness. amBX users can choose between five different lighting presets for a quick change of mood lighting, when the need arises. For more dynamic lighting, amBX Illuminate can be set to loop between the five presets, from slowly flowing shades to sudden, exciting contrasts.

Finally, adding music into the applications mix, amBX also works with audio player visualisers to orchestrate all kinds of light effects, from subtle mood lighting to sophisticated light shows. amBX can bring the excitement of a live show or atmosphere of a club night right into the user’s home.

Using ‘surround senses’, amBX creates a new type of PC application experience by extending the traditional content world out of the screen and into the real world. The revolutionary platform allows content developers to use light, colour, sound, rumble and even air flow through enabled devices, including the Philips amBX PC Gaming Peripherals range of LED colour-controlled lighting, rumble peripherals and variable speed desktop fans. These senses are then used to recreate on-screen effects in the real world.

Whilst the Philips amBX team works closely with content developers to ensure many games and applications are developed to be amBX compatible from release, the amBX FXGen+ allows users to experience amBX effects in synchronisation with existing content, ensuring backward compatibility. Furthermore, amBX patches offering even more new effects are regularly being released for download at www.ambx.com.

“These latest non-gaming applications are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how dynamic amBX can be,” commented Jo Cooke, Chief Marketing Officer, Philips amBX. “Seeing geographical lighting effects while using Google Earth or watching a movie on the VLC Media Player is an experience we’re convinced users will enjoy. Many more software applications, both gaming and non gaming, will follow suit throughout 2008.”

Philips is setting a global standard by licensing the amBX technology to content developers, publishers and peripherals manufacturers including Ubisoft, Codemasters, THQ, Introversion, Gearbox Software, Gas Powered Games, Zombie, Riot Games, Brain in a Jar, Invictus Games, Instinct Technology, Kuju, Revolution, Sumo Digital and Rivers Run Red.

A full list of FXGenerator and amBX FXGen+ compatible games and programs, including The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Lost Planet, Crysis, Stranglehold and Need for Speed: ProStreet, can be found at www.ambx.com.

XBOX Live Friends Widget v2.1

From 1337pwn...

Early this morning, we released a subtle update to the XBOX Live Friends List widget. The new version of the widget has a further optimized version of the communications code along with usability improvements. For example, you can now have multiple instances of the widget open and give them unique "labels".

download here...