===================================================
DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- March 12, 2003
===================================================
To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Report: World Video Game Market Poised to Grow to $18.5 Billion in 2003
o MTV, Motorola Sign Three-Year, $75 Million Mobile Marketing Pact
o Video Game Industry Argues Against St. Louis Ban on Sales to Minors
o ABC News Launches 24-Hour Paid Online Video Feed Service
o Webcasting Firm Loudeye Announces Resignation of New Chairman, CEO
> DMW Publications: February Law and Policy Report
o Briefly Noted: mmO2 - wireless music service, "Zelda" pre-orders, Sony
Music Mobile Products Group - AT&T Wireless, Hughes Network Systems Europe
- Virtual Music Stores, TheRecordPool.com, Proteus - AT&T Wireless,
Ignition Entertainment, ScanSoft - "Operator's Side," Idol Minds - "My
Street," Empire Interactive - "Vegas: Make It Big," Sony - Philips -
high-capacity CD recorders
_____________________________________________
> 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.
To post a Classified Ad:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/mainpostingpage.html
or contact Tinzar Than at tinzar@digitalmediawire.com
_____________________________________________
o Report: World Video Game Market Poised to Grow to $18.5 Billion in 2003
London -- The world market for video game and edutainment/reference
software will grow to $18.5 billion this year, up from $16.9 billion in
2002, according to a report from market research firm Screen Digest that
was commissioned by the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers
Association (ELSPA). Screen Digest predicts that total global video game
console sales will reach 32 million this year, up from 30 million in 2002,
and leisure software sales will grow from 508 million units in 2002 to 548
million this year. The report cites the U.K. as the largest game market in
Europe and the third largest market in the world, after the U.S. and
Japan. Total U.K. leisure software sales grew in 2002 to reach $1.7
billion.
http://www.elspa.com/about/pr/pr.asp?mode=view&t=1&id=368&ref=home
http://www.screendigest.com
_____________________________________________
o MTV, Motorola Sign Three-Year, $75 Million Mobile Marketing Pact
Hanover, Germany -- Cell phone maker Motorola announced on Wednesday a
three-year, $75 million marketing alliance with Viacom's MTV cable TV
network. The deal will include the pre-loading of MTV content onto
Motorola handsets, including ringtones, games and images in markets
outside North America. The companies will jointly develop MTV wireless
menu interfaces to be included in handset menu navigation areas,
containing links to embedded or over-the-air downloadable MTV content on
artists, programming segments, music and concert information, and special
promotions. MTV will also promote Motorola's MotoMixer technology, which
lets users create unique ringtones through mobile and online mixing.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030312/nyw040_1.html
http://www.motorola.com
http://www.mtv.com
_____________________________________________
o Video Game Industry Argues Against St. Louis Ban on Sales to Minors
St. Louis -- Lawyers for a video game industry trade group asked a federal
court on Wednesday to overturn a lower court's ruling upholding a St.
Louis County ordinance banning the sale of violent video games to minors,
Reuters reported. The Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA)
argued before the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that the ordinance
is unconstitutional, and that video games are artwork that deserves First
Amendment protections. Meanwhile, citing a scientific report saying that
children exposed to violent acts such as those in some video games tend to
become more violent themselves, Michael Shuman, associate county counsel
for St. Louis, argued for the ban to remain intact. The video game
industry has already instituted a ratings system that is used to inform
parents on the content of games they buy for their children.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=2371027
http://www.idsa.com
_____________________________________________
o ABC News Launches 24-Hour Paid Online Video Feed Service
New York -- ABCNews.com on Wednesday announced the launch of a
subscription-based, 24-hour online video news feed service that will offer
raw footage of press conferences from the White House and State
Department, various speeches and episodes of programs including
"Nightline," "20/20" and "World News Tonight." The ABC News Live service
will be offered only to subscribers to ABC News on Demand, which costs
$4.95 per month, or else will be available through RealNetworks' $9.95 per
month RealOne SuperPass subscription package.
http://www.abcnews.com
_____________________________________________
o Webcasting Firm Loudeye Announces Resignation of New Chairman, CEO
Seattle -- Loudeye Technologies, a provider of webcasting and digital
audio song sample services, announced on Wednesday the departure of its
chairman and CEO, who themselves were just announced as the company's new
top executives on Feb. 4.. Leaving are CEO Phil Gioia, a principal with Regent Pacific
Management -- a firm Loudye had retained to explore strategic alternatives, with which the
company ended business with effective today -- and chairman Chad Waite, a general partner
of OVP Venture Partners. The departing executives replaced John Baker, who resigned
as chairman and CEO. Seattle-based Loudeye named Jeff Cavins as its new president and CEO,
and Anthony Bay, a three-year board member, as its new chairman. Most recently, Cavins served
as a senior vice president for Exodus Communications, a managed hosting
and interactive Web services company.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030312/sfw068_1.html
http://www.loudeye.com
_____________________________________________
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
==========================================
DMW Publications: February Law & Policy Report
==========================================
Contact tinzar@digitalmediawire.com or call 323-464-0793 to order your
copies.
To purchase directly, go to:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplace.htm
Digital Media Law & Policy Report - New Issue
Must-read publication on legal and policy matters related to digital
media. 35+ pages of case summaries, news and analysis, policy updates,
court filings, and exclusive interviews with legal counsel and business
leaders.
Published monthly. February issue on sale now!
**Special Reduced Rates available for a limited time**
Price: $19.00 Per Issue | $195.00 Annual Subscription
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplace.htm
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_____________________________________________
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
==================
FEATURED SECTION
==================
Featured Section posting at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/featuredpostingpage.htm
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_____________________________________________
Briefly Noted:
(London) Along with Viacom's MTV and Bertelsmann's BMG, British mobile
phone operator mmO2 will launch in May a new system allowing customers to
download music to a portable digital music player designed by a unit of
Siemens. Charts compiled by MTV will be available for browsing, and users
will be able to preview and purchase songs from the service from labels
including BMG. Mmo2 said that chosen selections will be downloaded and
available for listening "in around 12 seconds."
http://www.mmo2.com/docs/media/pr_030311.html
(Redmond, Wash.) Nintendo of America on Wednesday announced that
pre-orders for its upcoming "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker" for the
GameCube have surpassed 560,000. Those pre-ordering the title received a
version of the last Zelda title for Nintendo 64 not release in North
America. The new Zelda title is scheduled for release on March 24.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230715286&ticker=
http://www.zelda.com
(New York) Sony Music Mobile Products Group on Wednesday announced the
launch of Sony Music Mobile on the AT&T Wireless mMode subscription
service. The service will let users purchase Sony artist ringtones for
between $0.99 and $1.99, download graphics and purchase CDs from
Amazon.com. For an additional subscription fee of $1.00 per month, users
can download a special Java application -- developed by New York-based
Crisp Wireless -- that delivers news, tour dates, album releases,
information on personal appearances, and pictures of the artist of their
choice.
http://www.crispwireless.com/news/press?content_id=799
http://www.attws.com/mmode
(Germantown, Md.) Satellite broadband provider Hughes Network Systems
Europe announced on Wednesday a multi-year contract to provide Virtual
Music Stores (VMS) with broadband access through its Direcway service. VMS
will use the Direcway network to distribute music content to its on-demand
manufacturing kiosks situated in retail stores across Europe. The system
features kiosks that can manufacture, on-demand, singles, albums and
personalized compilation CDs, together with original artwork. The CDs are
individually priced, based on negotiations between the individual
retailers and their music supply companies.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030312/dcw012_1.html
http://www.direcway.com
http://www.vmusicstores.com
(Clearwater, Fla.) Worldwide Record Pool, Inc. announced on Wednesday the
launch of The Record Pool, an online record pool for DJs interested in
previewing unreleased songs from dance, R&B, and hip-hop record labels.
The $14.99 per month service lets subscribers audition, download, and have
unlimited use of up to eighty full-length cuts in encrypted MP3 format
each month. DJs provide feedback to labels for each song they download,
audition, and play on-air or at their venue.
http://www.therecordpool.com
(Washington, D.C.) Wireless application developer Proteus announced on
Wednesday that it developed the text-messaging based "College Hoops" games
available on the AT&T Wireless network. The games include NCAA basketball
trivia and a game that will reward players based on their round-by-round
performance picking the winners of tournament matchups during the 2003
NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament, which kicks off later this
month.
http://proteus.com/about/news/articles/n_031103.jsp
http://www.attwireless.com/collegehoops
(London) IVP Technology, the parent company of U.K.-based game developer
Ignition Entertainment and its U.S. counterpart Ignition USA, announced on
Wednesday that the two studios have achieved licensed publisher status for
the Sony PlayStation and PlayStation 2, as well as Nintendo's GameCube and
Game Boy Advance systems for both Europe and North America. The
announcement coincides with the release of nine new titles for Game Boy
Advance. Nevada-based IVP said Ignition is also working to finalize an
agreement with Microsoft for an Xbox license.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030311/nytu140_1.html
http://www.ivptechnology.com
http://www.ignitionent.com
(Peabody, Mass.) ScanSoft, a provider of imaging, speech and language
solutions, said on Wednesday that its speech recognition software is being
used in "Operator's Side," a PlayStation 2 video game title developed and
published by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. The game incorporates
ScanSoft's speaker-independent speech recognition engine, which allows
users to interact with game characters using voice commands.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030312/125114_1.html
http://www.scansoft.com
(Foster City, Calif.) Sony Computer Entertainment America on Wednesday
released "My Street," an online compatible children's title for
PlayStation 2. Developed by Boulder, Colo.-based Idol Minds, the game
features a number of arcade-style mini-games like Dodgeball, RC Racing,
Marbles and Chicken Herding that may be played in an online multiplayer
setting using the Network Adaptor for PlayStation 2.
http://www.idolminds.com
(London) Video game publisher Empire Interactive said on Wednesday that
London-based developer Deep Red Games is currently at work on "Vegas: Make
It Big," a PC game that will let players start their own hotel casino in
Las Vegas. The game is scheduled to ship in the fall of 2003.
http://us.empireinteractive.com
http://www.deepred.co.uk
(London) NewScientist on Wednesday reported on the launch this week by
consumer electronics firms Sony and Philips of CD recorders that can
produce discs that hold up to 30 and 100 hours of recorded music,
respectively. The new sub-$200 Sony devices will fit 30 hours on a CD,
while the Philips devices will cram 100 hours of MP3 music onto a blank
DVD. "It's a no-brainer. Anything which lets people pirate more music like
this has to be very bad news for the music industry," a spokesman for the
British Phonographic Industry told NewScientist. "The music companies need
to change their business model," Mike Tsurumi, a president of Sony
Consumer Electronics in Berlin, told NewScientist.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993490
_____________________________________________
===================
CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
===================
To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobpostingpage.htm
_____________________________________________
====================
CLASSIFIEDS - EVENTS
====================
To Post Events: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/eventpostingpage.htm
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:
http://kb.digitalmediawire.com/register.php?eventid=1025
_____________________________________________
==========================
CLASSIFIEDS - MARKETPLACE
==========================
To Post Marketplace:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplacepostingpage.htm
Entertainment & Corporate Legal Services
Top Credentialed Attorney with 9 years of experience representing major
studios, entertainment start-ups, VCs, investment banks and other blue
chip clients provides legal and business consulting for exclusive
clientele at reasonable rates. Services include entity formation, private
equity financings, licensing (entertainment and software products),
trademark registration and disputes, copyright issues and other
transactional and contract law services. Qualified in California and
Texas. Retainer required to commence services. Tel. 323-363-3620.
_____________________________________________
Game Industry Law & Policy Report
Special industry report covering law & policy matters impacting the game
industry. The 15-page report includes case summaries, news and analysis,
feature article and an exclusive interview with Doug Lowenstein,
President, Interactive Digital Software Association. Price: $19.00
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplace.htm
_____________________________________________
For those who believe in ITV - "Interactive TV: The Definitive Chronicle"
Covering the period 2000 to the present, this sourcebook presents a
complete history of the news and events that have shaped the business of
iTV since the beginning of the 21st Century. Culled from countless
sources, including the Digital Media Wire database, this 175 pages PDF (on
CD) covers all of the major players as well as the legal and financial
issues that helped shape the industry. Key research and industry
projections as well as a host of facts, figures, resources and thousands
of iTV-related links are included. Price: $ 55.00.
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplace.htm
_____________________________________________
Etronica helps you "Find the Good Stuff FAST!"
Etronica's unique software toolset enables "Interest Based Navigation" of
Digital Content. The Patent Pending software tools can be incorporated
directly into content websites and portals, installed in TV settop boxes
or integrated as OEM components. The tools drive the automatic tagging,
indexing, and categorization of text. A recommendation engine suggests
highly relevant new information to users as they interact. Personalized
advertising and commerce offerings can also be automatically served.
Contact us to learn more: info@etronica.com
http://www.etronica.com
_____________________________________________
Digital Media Wire, Inc. leverages its integrated media network to provide
exceptional value to individuals and companies determined to capitalize on
the convergence of media, entertainment and technology. Digital Media
Wire, the first in a series of business-intelligence publications,
delivers original daily briefings on the business, legal and financial
developments shaping digital media.
Digital Media Wire is part of the Tech Wire Media Group, an international
network of publications that includes Potomac Tech Wire, New England Tech
Wire, Southeast Tech Wire, Bay Area Tech Wire, Tri-state Tech Wire and
European Tech Wire. The network reaches more than 62,000 individuals from
over 70 countries worldwide each business day.
Upcoming publications, events & information at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com
Questions, Comments & Suggestions to:
tinzar@digitalmediawire.com
News Tips, Scoops & Press Releases to:
editorial@digitalmediawire.com
_____________________________________________
Editor: Mark Hefflinger
Chief Executive Officer: Ned Sherman
VP, Marketing and Events: Tinzar Than
Copyright 2003 Digital Media Wire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|
