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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- March 11, 2003
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Report: DVD Recorders to Overtake DVD Players by 2005
o MLB Launches Out-of-Market Game Live Video Webcast Service
o New MPV Standard to Organize Media Files on Recordable CDs, DVDs
o Franklin Electronic Publishers Ups Stake In E-book Firm MobiPocket
> DMW Publications: February Law and Policy Report
o Briefly Noted: Eidos - Paramount Pictures - "The Italian Job," Microsoft
- "Age of Mythology," THQ - AT&T Wireless, OpenTV - Star Choice, Game Show
Network, Blue Lava Wireless, 989 Sports - "MLB 2004," Electronic Arts -
"MVP Baseball 2003," Sega - "World Series Baseball 2K3," Activision -
"Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven," Infogrames, Anticopying technology - hard
coding vs. soft coding
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> Events: Games & Mobile Forum: April 28 | NYC
> Marketplace: Entertainment & Corporate Legal Services, Game Industry
Report, iTV Chronicle, Interest-Based Navigation
Full Classifieds located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.
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o Report: DVD Recorders to Overtake DVD Players by 2005
London -- Dollar sales of DVD recorders, which allow users to record TV
programs onto DVD, will surpass sales of play-only DVD players by 2005,
according to a report from London-based market research firm Strategy
Analytics. This year, worldwide sales of DVD recorders are forecasted to
reach 2.7 million units and generate $1 billion in retail revenues. Due to
competition between different format vendors and the emergence of new
suppliers in the Far East and China, the price for a DVD recorder will
fall to $600 this year and to $450 in 2004, prompting many consumers to
upgrade. "The rivalry between different recording formats such as DVD-RAM
and DVD+RW is actually proving beneficial by driving down prices more
rapidly. Consumers can rest assured that all recorders will play all DVDs,
and that's what counts," said Strategy Analytics' Peter King. The firm
predicts that annual sales of DVD video recorders worldwide will reach
42.1 million in 2008, when the devices will be in 40 percent of homes in
the U.S., 33 percent of homes in Europe and 62 percent of homes in Japan.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230705721&ticker=
http://www.strategyanalytics.com
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o MLB Launches Out-of-Market Game Live Video Webcast Service
New York -- Major League Baseball Advanced Media on Tuesday announced the
launch of a live video streaming service for out-of-market baseball games,
offering fans access to broadcasts of games played outside of teams' local
TV blackout areas. The service will offer a total of about 1,000 games --
about 3 games per each team each week -- charging $14.95 per month, $79.95
for the entire season or $2.95 per game. Games on MLB.tv will be streamed
at 330k using RealNetworks' technology. MLB.com is offering a sample of
the service with nine free Spring Training game webcasts, beginning with
the March 13th game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030311/nytu054_1.html
http://www.mlb.tv
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o New MPV Standard to Organize Media Files on Recordable CDs, DVDs
Hanover, Germany -- A group of consumer electronics, PC and digital
imaging companies on Tuesday announced their support for a new open
standard format, MPV (MusicPhotoVideo), that they say will enhance the way
consumers store and enjoy collections of personal music, photo and video
content stored on recordable CDs and DVDs. Electronics makers including
Eastman Kodak, HP, LG Electronics, Olympus, Ltd., Philips, Samsung and
Sony are endorsing the MPV standard; software makers that will include
support in their products include ArcSoft, Planetweb, Roxio and Sonic
Solutions. The MPV technology will provide a table of contents for the
files on CDs and DVDs, which a MPV-enabled device can quickly recognize
and use to navigate and access the multimedia content. Devices and
software supporting MPV will be released beginning in the second half of
2003.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230705282&ticker=hpq
http://www.osta.org/mpv
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o Franklin Electronic Publishers Ups Stake In E-book Firm MobiPocket
Burlington, N.J. -- Franklin Electronic Publishers, a manufacturer of
e-book reader devices, announced on Tuesday that it has increased its
stake in MobiPocket, a developer of e-book software, to more than 25
percent. Franklin will purchase one-half of the stake currently owned by
Viventures, a venture capital unit of Vivendi Universal. Financial terms
were not disclosed. Previously, Franklin and Paris-based MobiPocket
collaborated to make MobiPocket's software compatible with Franklin
products. The software enables the reading and secure distribution of
electronic text across all existing OS platforms, including Palm OS,
Pocket PC OS, Symbian OS and Franklin's proprietary operating systems.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030311/phtu016_1.html
http://www.mobipocket.com
http://www.franklin.com
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DMW Publications: February Law & Policy Report
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Digital Media Law & Policy Report - New Issue
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media. 35+ pages of case summaries, news and analysis, policy updates,
court filings, and exclusive interviews with legal counsel and business
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Published monthly. February issue on sale now!
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Price: $19.00 Per Issue | $195.00 Annual Subscription
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Briefly Noted:
(London) Video game developer Eidos announced on Tuesday that it has
licensed the interactive rights to the film "The Italian Job" from
Paramount Pictures. The film, starring Mark Wahlberg, is a remake of the
1969 original movie that starred Michael Caine. U.K.-based Climax Studios
is developing versions of the game for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube
for release this summer, to coincide with the remake's premiere.
http://www.eidos.com
http://www.climax.co.uk
(Redmond, Wash.) Microsoft Game Studios announced on Tuesday that its "Age
of Mythology" title for PC has sold over one million units worldwide. The
game is part of Austin-based developer Ensemble Studios' "Age of Empires"
franchise, which has sold over 11 million units worldwide.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030311/sftu046_2.html
http://www.ensemblestudios.com
(Calabasas Hills, Calif.) Video game publisher THQ announced on Tuesday a
deal with wireless network operator AT&T Wireless to distribute over 20
THQ wireless game titles over AT&T's mMode wireless entertainment service.
Titles including "MotoGP," "Tetris," "Astrosmash" "WWE Mobile Madness" and
THQ's Hello Kitty-licensed content will be available to mMode subscribers
for between $1.00 and $4.99.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030311/115340_1.html
http://www.thq.com
http://www.attws.com/mmode
(Mountain View, Calif.) OpenTV, a provider of interactive TV software and
services, announced on Tuesday a five-year agreement with Canadian
satellite TV operator Star Choice Communications, to develop interactive
TV services for the company's 780,000 subscribers. The interactive
offering is expected to be available in mid-2003.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030311/115738_1.html
http://www.starchoice.com
http://www.opentv.com
(Santa Monica, Calif.) Cable TV channel Game Show Network announced on
Tuesday that it has added interactive TV elements to two of its classic
game shows, "Match Game" and "Family Feud." With the additions, developed
by Los Angeles-based interactive TV firm GoldPocket Interactive, Game Show
Network now offers 84 hours of interactive programming each week.
http://www.goldpocket.com
http://www.gameshownetwork.com
(Honolulu) Blue Lava Wireless, a publisher of wireless entertainment
products, said on Tuesday that it has developed an official version of the
popular game "Tetris" for Qualcomm's BREW platform for wireless devices.
The BREW platform is now available on 40 handset models worldwide,
according to Qualcomm.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030311/latu061_1.html
http://www.bluelavawireless.com
(Foster City, Calif.) 989 Sports, the sports video game unit of Sony
Computer Entertainment America, announced on Tuesday the release of "MLB
2004" for PlayStation and PlayStation 2. The game's cover athlete is Shawn
Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and also features voice work from Hall
of Fame member Vin Scully.
http://www.989sports.com
(Redwood City, Calif.) Game developer Electronic Arts announced on Tuesday
the release of "MVP Baseball 2003" for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. A PC
version of the game, developed by EA Canada for release on March 25, will
offer online multiplayer components accessible through EA Sports Online.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030311/115335_1.html
http://www.mvpbaseball.ea.com
http://www.easportsonline.com
(San Francisco) Sega of America on Tuesday announced the release of its
"SEGA Sports World Series Baseball 2K3" title for Microsoft's Xbox video
game console. Produced by Visual Concepts Entertainment, a Sega
development studio, and developed by Palo Alto, Calif.-based Blue Shift,
the game features ESPN telecast-style presentation and is endorsed by New
York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230700007&ticker=
http://www.sega.com
http://www.vce.com
http://www.blueshiftgames.com
(Santa Monica, Calif.) Game developer Activision on Tuesday announced that
its "Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven" title for PlayStation 2 is now available in
North American retail stores. The game was developed by K2 LLC and is
being published by Santa Monica-based Activision.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030311/latu051_1.html
http://www.tenchuwrathofheaven.com
(Beverly, Mass.) French video game publisher Infogrames announced on
Tuesday the release of its "Castles and Catapults" title for PC and
"Backyard Soccer 2004" title for PC and Mac. The value-priced titles are
both available for $19.99. "Castles and Catapults" was developed by
Monmouth, Ill.-based Magic Lantern Playware, while "Backyard Soccer" was
developed by Humongous Entertainment.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030311/115507_1.html
http://www.mlantern.com
http://www.funkidsgames.com
(San Francisco) CNET News.com on Tuesday reported on the current climate
in the semiconductor industry regarding the inclusion of anticopying
technology on chips used in consumer electronics devices. Although chips
that are "hard coded," or include embedded anticopying technology, are
faster, consume less power and are much harder to defeat, the rapidly
changing market has precluded many chipmakers from hard coding. "Soft
coding," or the use of software-based digital rights management, is the
slower, less-secure alternative that provides more flexibility to upgrade
or change anticopying rules once a device has already been released to the
market. "For the average user, soft coding is sufficient. For the hacker,
soft coding leads to a wide-open hole," Michael Maia, vice president of
marketing for chipmaker Portal Player, told News.com. "But that's the
reality right now, because the business is in flux."
http://news.com.com/2100-1025-991921.html?tag=fd_lede2_hed
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Digital Media Wire Presents...Games & Mobile Forum
April 2003, New York City
Focusing on games and mobile entertainment opportunities and business
models. Panel topics will include "The Battle to Control the Living Room:
Is the Game Industry Winning?", "Mobile Games: Business Models & New
Opportunities", "Legal & Policy Issues Impacting the Game Industry &
Mobile Entertainment", and "Home Networking: Technology for Modern Living
& Entertainment."
Door Tickets Price: $250. For Early Bird Specials, pre-register at:
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