archives

o Nintendo Follows Sony, Microsoft; GameCube Price Cut to $149
o NY Times: Microsoft to Spend $1 Billion on Xbox Live Online Game Network
o Brilliant Digital Launches Altnet; Secure Service Piggybacks on Kazaa
o Video Game Rentals Up 9% Over 2001
o Biggest U.S. Broadband Cities See Strong Subscriber Growth
o Sprint Partners With Seven Firms to Create 3G Wireless Games
> Featured Event/Company: Jupiter Plug.IN
o Briefly Noted: Sony - SOCOM USB Headset, GameSpy - Activision, Davilex -
"Knight Rider," LucasArts - "Star Wars Galaxies," Disney Interactive -
Monolith Productions - "TRON 2.0"
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> Jobs: Dir. of Public Relations, Global Communications Mgr., Marketing
Mgr., VP of Client Services, Inside Sales Acct. Exec., VP Production &
Programming, Sr. Graphic Designer, Sales Director

> Events: AIM's Dinner Series

> Marketplace: Free Wine Tastings, Bender/Helper Impact, Digital PCS Phone
System, Digital Copying Machine

Full text of ads located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.
To post a Classified Ad, contact David Peebler at
david@digitalmediawire.com
_____________________________________________

o Nintendo Follows Sony, Microsoft; GameCube Price Cut to $149

Redmond, Wash. -- In response to recent price cuts announced by Sony and
Microsoft, Nintendo on Monday slashed the price of its GameCube video game
console from $199 to $149. Last week, both Sony and Microsoft lowered the
prices for their PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles, respectively, from $299
to $199. Nintendo said that to date it has shipped 4.5 million GameCube
consoles worldwide, compared to 3.5 million for Xbox and 30 million for
PlayStation 2. The company also announced that it will soon introduce
GameCube titles featuring popular Nintendo properties such as Mario and
Zelda. "We were the first manufacturer to reach the $199 price level and
now we're leading the industry to $149 allowing even more players around
the world to get their hands on our legendary favorites like Mario, Zelda,
Star Fox and Metroid this year," Peter MacDougall, executive vice
president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America.
http://www.nintendo.com/news/news_articles.jsp?articleID=6727
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o NY Times: Microsoft to Spend $1 Billion on Xbox Live Online Game Network

Los Angeles -- Microsoft plans to invest $1 billion to launch an online
gaming network called Xbox Live, designed for use by owners of its Xbox
video game console, The New York Times reported. The service will
reportedly launch in the fall and cost $49 for a one-year subscription, in
addition to the cost of a broadband connection and the cost of the actual
online game titles, which will be sold at retail for around $50. Microsoft
plans to operate game servers in cities including London, Tokyo and at its
headquarters in Redmond, Wash.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/20/technology/20GAME.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/020520/tech_xbox_online_1.html
http://www.xbox.com
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o Brilliant Digital Launches Altnet; Secure Service Piggybacks on Kazaa

Los Angeles -- Brilliant Digital Entertainment, a provider of 3D
advertising software, on Monday launched its Altnet network, a separate,
secure peer-to-peer network that piggybacks on the popular Kazaa
file-sharing service. Altnet plans to offer media files such as songs or
video games that have been approved by major record labels, movie studios
and other companies. It will also rent out the computing power of the
network of connected PCs to companies for the purposes of distributed
computing projects. Los Angeles-based Brilliant Digital angered some Kazaa
users when they found out that the company's software had been stealthily
installed along with the Kazaa software they downloaded; however, Altnet
is an opt-in network, so Kazaa users have the choice of whether or not to
participate. EMI's 2KSounds record label and video game publisher
Infogrames are among the companies that have signed on to distribute media
through the service, Wired News reported. Unlike the Kazaa network, the
Altnet files will come with digital rights management that directs how a
downloader may use the file. Altnet will also provide links to paid
content from a number of sources.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-000035609may20.story
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,52608,00.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-917348.html?tag=cd_mh
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o Video Game Rentals Up 9% Over 2001

Encino, Calif. -- Video game consumers rented 49.2 million games and spent
$201 million during the first quarter of 2002, up 9 percent from the same
period a year ago, according to figures released on Monday by the Video
Software Dealers Association (VSDA), an industry trade group. Games for
Sony's PlayStation 2 accounted for every title in the organization's top
10 rentals list for the first quarter, occupying 64 percent of the overall
video game rental market. Game rental revenues for the first quarter of
2002 were $184 million, up 24.5 percent from fourth quarter 2001's total
of $161.4 million. "The video game rental business enjoyed a strong first
quarter due, in part, to increased competition and consumer choices fueled
by the introduction of Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube," said
VSDA president Bo Andersen.
http://www.vsda.org
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o Biggest U.S. Broadband Cities See Strong Subscriber Growth

New York -- The biggest U.S. markets for broadband Internet access
recorded significant audience gains of at least 48 percent over last year,
according to figures released on Monday by Internet audience measurement
firm Nielsen/NetRatings. Overall, more than 25.2 million surfers at-home
accessed the Internet via cable modem, DSL, ISDN or LAN last month as
compared to 15.9 million individuals in April 2001, an increase of 58
percent. "Sixty-five percent of the top broadband metropolitan areas
posted robust growth in their high speed populations, signaling that,
while some barriers exist to broadband expansion such as increasing costs,
there is healthy room for additional growth and adoption of broadband,"
said TS Kelly, director and principal analyst, NetRatings. Among the top
growth markets, New York's broadband subscriber base rose 71 percent to
2.8 million, while Los Angeles grew 88 percent, to 1.8 million. Other
high-growth markets included Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta,
Sacramento and Orlando.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020520/sfm096_1.html
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com
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o Sprint Partners With Seven Firms to Create 3G Wireless Games

Los Angeles -- Wireless network operator Sprint PCS announced deals with a
number of wireless game developers on Monday from the Electronic
Entertainment Expo (E3) game industry convention in Los Angeles. Sprint's
3G1X, a line of services designed for its high-speed 3G wireless network,
is scheduled to launch this summer. San Francisco-based Sega Mobile will
develop wireless versions of Sega titles including "Pengo" and "Head On;"
Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based THQ will develop "WWE Mobile Madness" and
other titles; and Sprint and Chicago-based Cybiko will create wireless
versions of titles such as "Golden Tee" and "Blazing Boards."
Additionally, Honolulu-based Blue Lava Wireless will develop a version of
the popular game "Tetris" for Sprint's 3G offering; Chicago-based Midway
Games will develop wireless versions of popular arcade games like
"Defender;" and wireless entertainment developers including Cambridge,
U.K.-based NGame and Los Angeles-based Jamdat Mobile said they would
extend existing development agreements to include 3G games.
http://biz.yahoo.com/n/p/pcs.html
http://www.segamobile.com
http://www.thq.com
http://www.cybiko.com
http://www.bluelavawireless.com
http://www.ngame.com
http://www.jamdatmobile.com
http://www.midway.com
http://www.sprint.com/mr
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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE PRESENTS:
"Wired and Mobile: How Far Ahead is Asia?"
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/LAasia2.html

Asia has embraced mobile phones and broadband services with an enthusiasm
that perhaps no other region can match. With so many wired and mobile
consumers in Asia, there are tremendous opportunities for distribution of
digital entertainment. This panel, led by tech-entertainment personality,
Ken Rutkowski, and composed of executives and professionals from
Microsoft, E! Networks, Moviso, UCLA and Jones Day will examine recent
developments in Asia and discuss, among other things, opportunities for
U.S.-based companies to distribute content through mobile and broadband
services in Asia. For more information, contact Ned Sherman at
ned@digitalmediawire.com.

Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2002
Time: 8:30 am - 10:30 am
Location: Four Seasons, Beverly Hills (Doheny and Burton Way)
Sponsored by: Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue and Bender/Helper Impact
To register: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/LAasia2.html

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=================
FEATURED SECTION
=================

30 Reasons to Attend Plug.IN -- July 8-9 - NYC

Reason #25: CARP smells fishy.
Online radio allows consumers to hear music they can't get through
traditional broadcasters, while labels and artists can promote catalog and
niche music to targeted audiences while recognizing licensing revenues.
CARP rates introduce a significant new cost component with no benefits of
scale, just when bandwidth is becoming affordable.
**To register or for more info: http://www.jmm.com/plugin
**For all 30 reasons and $200 off, email PluginReasons@jmm.com

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o Briefly Noted:

(Los Angeles) Sony Computer Entertainment America on Monday announced that
it will release a new voice-activated headset controller for its
PlayStation 2 video game console in August. The $60 SOCOM USB Headset will
allow users to control game action through voice prompts, as well as
communicate with other players in online games such as "SOCOM: U.S. Navy
SEALs."
http://www.scea.com
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020520/SFM062

(Irvine, Calif.) GameSpy Industries, a provider of online gaming
technology and video game news, announced on Monday that it will provide
online game technology to game developer Activision. Under the agreement,
Irvine-based GameSpy will provide player matching, voice and text chat,
anti-piracy protection, competition and high-scoring systems for PC and
PlayStation 2 titles released in 2002 and 2003. The company will also
provide server, bandwidth and reporting support to Santa Monica-based
Activision.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020520/lam085_1.html
http://www.gamespy.net
http://www.activision.com

(Houten, Netherlands) Game developer and publisher Davilex announced on
Monday that it has signed a licensing agreement with Universal Studios
Licensing to develop new PC and console games based on the 1980's TV
series "Knight Rider." Netherlands-based Davilex said titles for PC,
PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and Game Boy Advance are due for release in
the fourth quarter of 2002.
http://www.davilex.com/press/pressRelease.asp?PressReleaseID=9
http://www.knightrideronline.com

(San Rafael, Calif.) Game developer LucasArts said on Monday that it will
release versions of its "Star Wars Galaxies" online games for both
Microsoft's Xbox Live service and Sony PlayStation 2's online game
service. The company said specific release dates will be announced later.
San Rafael, Calif.-based LucasArts will release a PC version of the game
developed by Sony Online Entertainment, "Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire
Divided," in December.
http://www.lucasarts.com

(Burbank, Calif.) Disney Interactive said on Monday that it will release a
PC game based on the 1982 cult science fiction film, "TRON." Kirkland,
Wash.-based Monolith Productions is developing "TRON 2.0," which will
feature new design by Syd Mead, the original concept designer for the
film, for release in early 2003.
http://www.disneyinteractive.com
http://www.lith.com
http://www.tron-movie.com
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===================
CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
===================

Director of Public Relations - Walt Disney Consumer Products - Los
Angeles, CA

Reports directly to the VP Marketing. Responsible for managing development
of communications strategy to improve and enhance the company's image;
all communications materials; working with ad agencies; serving as
company's spokesperson and media contact; and developing presentations for
executive management. 8+ years of relevant experience required. Email
cp.careers@Disney.com with your resume and Job Code# 02-0001616-02 in the
body of the email. No attachments.
_____________________________________________

Manager, Global Communications & Synergy - Walt Disney Consumer Products -
Los Angeles, CA

Responsible for global business communications - a central point of
contact for regional/country offices; importer of regional/country
information & creative assets; facilitate product development on new film
& Pixar properties; oversee content for intranet & B2B extranet; maintain
marketing calendar; and supervise Asset Management department. 8 yrs.
experience in launching leading consumer brands. Email
cp.careers@Disney.com with your resume and Job Code# 02-0002003-02 in the
body of the email. No attachments.
_____________________________________________

Marketing Manager- West LA Music - Los Angeles, CA

Manage in-house marketing department for nationally known music retailer.
Includes implementing marketing plan to target markets with promotions,
direct mail, catalogs, print ads and events. Requires a BS in Business,
Communications, Music or related field and knowledge of music, audio and
recording products. Benefits include 401K, medical insurance, vacations,
employee purchase plan and more. $3,000 to $6,000 per month. Code: 51702E.
Send resume to: Jobs2@westlamusic.com.
_____________________________________________

Vice President of Client Services - Luxury Link, LLC - Los Angeles, CA

Luxury Link, the world's leading luxury travel Web site
(www.luxurylink.com), is seeking a Vice President of Client Services to
work in its offices near LAX. The position is responsible for managing
Client Services staff to meet departmental goals (no travel required).
Must have experience in account management, understanding of sales and
analytics, ability to meet deadlines and targets, and excellent "people
skills." Contact Phyllis Elliott at pelliott@commontech.com.
_____________________________________________

Account Executive, Inside Sales - ivacation.com - Los Angeles, CA

International Vacation Homes has been revolutionizing the vacation and
travel industry, by providing marketing solutions for vacation property
owners around the world. Working as an "Internet-Vacation Property
Consultant," you will be contacting qualified clients to provide proven
solutions for successfully marketing their property. International
Vacation Home's corporate headquarters is located near LAX with a second
location in North Hollywood. Email your resume and preferred location to
jobs@ivacation.com.
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VP Production and Programming -- IFILM Network - Los Angeles, CA

Reporting to the EVP, Sales & Marketing, this person is an integral part
of building IFILM Network into the premiere provider of broadband
entertainment. Individual must be on the cutting edge of emerging
technologies and content delivery platforms -- producing original
programming that appeals to both consumers and marketers. A keen
content-programming sensibility - knowing what content will be popular,
while still being consistent with the IFILM brand (irreverent, humorous,
fun). Film and/or TV Production budget experience. Please send resume and
cover letter to programming@ifilm.com
_____________________________________________

Senior Graphic Designer - O'Melveny & Myers LLP - Los Angeles, CA

O'Melveny & Myers LLP, an international law firm located in downtown Los
Angeles, has an immediate opening for a Senior Graphic Designer. Qualified
candidate is responsible for maintaining firm's existing brand and
supporting and enhancing firm's brand equity. Handle concept, design and
pre-press for all marketing materials. Excellent salary and benefits
package. Resume to: O'Melveny & Myers LLP, 400 S. Hope Street, Suite 248,
Los Angeles, CA 90071. FAX: (213) 430-7857. Email resume to: HR@omm.com.
Visit us at: http://www.omm.com
_____________________________________________

Sales Director, Walt Disney Consumer Products, Los Angeles, CA

Support VP to attain fiscal year revenue and profitability goals. Develop
account and channel differentiated distribution plans, seasonal business
plans and budget. Grow softlines (apparel and accessories) revenue and
profitability. A minimum of 10 years specific apparel/accessories/footwear
brand management experience. Please email cp.careers@Disney.com, including
your resume, contact details, and Job Code 02-0001680-02 in the body of
your email. Do not send your resume as an attachment.
_____________________________________________

===================
CLASSIFIEDS - EVENTS
===================

AIM's Dinner & A Deal Spring Series - LA, May 21 and SF, May 22

Pre-dinner discussion panel: "Permission Marketing: Has It Lost Its Edge?"
Come meet with colleagues from the interactive community for tasty dinner,
intense discussions, and even better networking opportunities! Los
Angeles, Tues., May 21, 5:00pm. Speakers: Alexis Bonnell, CEO,
Wordsuccess; Josh Rose, SVP, iDeutsch; David Karnstedt, SVP, Overture. San
Francisco, Wed., May 22, 5:00pm. Speakers: Mark Evans, CEO, MarketItRight;
Lyn Chitow Oakes, CEO, Respond.com; Jon Brodeur, EVP Media & Acquisition
Services, @Once; Chris Bolte, VP, Overture. Upcoming: Boston on 6/5, New
York on 6/12. For more info and to register: www.interactivemarketing.org
(or call
212-790-1408).
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==========================
CLASSIFIEDS - MARKETPLACE
==========================

Free Beaulieu Vineyard Wine Tasting & Educational Seminars - LA & Orange
County

BV offers groups of 35 or more an easy and enjoyable way to enhance your
meeting and entertain your group. The seminar is available at No Cost to
your organization or anyone who attends. It provides a unique opportunity
to learn about the history, heritage and character of a true American
classic. For more information, please contact Suzanne Bultmeyer, BV Event
Coordinator, at sebult@onebox.com
_____________________________________________

Bender/Helper Impact - Public Relations Agency

Bender/Helper Impact is a full-service, mid-sized public relations agency
with offices in Los Angeles and New York. The agency, which was founded in
1986, offers strong expertise in the areas of digital entertainment and
convergence, new media, electronic gaming, technology and consumer
electronics. Current clients include: Dolby, 20th Century Fox, Konami,
DreamWorks, Marvel Enterprises, MGM and Warner Bros., among many others.
To find out how Bender/Helper can impact your business, contact Steve
Honig at: 310-473-4147 or steve_honig@bhimpact.com
_____________________________________________

Samsung DCS Digital Phone System - $5250

No office telephone system offers more for less. This system was
originally purchased new for $16,358.00 at the beginning of 2000. The
system comes complete with everything required to get your office
communications up and running immediately. The DCS is a modular,
future-proof telephone system, which gives unrivalled flexibility and
functionality and can be configured as a PABX, key system or any
combination of these, according to your specific requirements. For further
details go to
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1729532922&r=0&t=0&sh
owTutorial=0&ed=1021650149&indexURL=0&rd=1
or contact djpeebs@aol.com
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Sharp AR-5132 Digital Copier -- Excellent working condition - $999.95

Used for a year, this copier is in great shape and priced to sell. Its
parts work fine - including all internal mechanisms, paper feeders,
trays, and the optional 20-bin sorter - and it produces clean,
professional copies. It is only in need of a new drum, which requires
periodic replacement, to be fully operational. Instructions Manuals are
included. This workhorse of a copying machine was originally purchased for
$4800 and is offered for far less than you are likely to find it anywhere
else, especially when compared to used models selling for over $2200 on
the web. Must pick-up or arrange delivery (in LA). Contact djpeebs@aol.com
______________________

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