games

An interesting article from Kotaku today, discusses Ubisoft's intention to get into the film business and try to expand its offerings beyond video games.

"Our goal is to create a studio that will be very high quality, our goal is to try to get to the level of quality of Peter Jackson's Weta studio," Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot said in an interview. "We have been working to train people, to recruit highly talented people and we are in test mode at the moment. We are going to make sure that we get to the level of Weta. We have a long way to go but in getting to that level will help us to actually be one of the studios where everybody has to go."

Peter Jackson, best known for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and as director of King Kong, is currently working in collaboration with Bungie to create a new game set in the Halo universe. The game is currently titled Halo: Chronicles, but no release date has been given.

Guillemot sounds ambitious and I applaud him for trying to do more with his business, I can't help but wonder if video game developers have any place in other forms of entertainment. Can they really create a stellar sitcom or a blockbuster hit at the theaters? Are they capable of publishing sci-fi novels?

With the way things are going in all of those industries, I don't think it's too far-fetched at all.… Read more

Over on Boing Boing this evening, I read about WTF?!, a terrific-sounding sidescroller role-playing video game that is a spot-on parody of World of Warcraft.

In his post about the new game, Boing Boing co-editor Cory Doctorow linked to games guru Greg Costikyan's own entry on WTF?!, which drew the parallels to the massively successful WoW and an image like the one above: "It's a World of Warcraft screenshot, right? Well, no--it's a screenshot from WTF?!, a Flash-based sidescroller parodying WoW. And it's note-perfect, too--every interface element and the backgrounds and characters look like they'… Read more

NOVATO, Calif.--Over on one side of the synthetic hockey rink, the director yelled out, "Motion-capture ready?"

The technician answered, "Ready."

The director then shouted out, "Actor ready?"

NHL star Rick Nash, a left wing for the Columbus Blue Jackets answered back, "Ready."

Nash was on hand, even as the Stanley Cup Finals are still in progress, because he's the cover star for 2K Sports' forthcoming hockey video game, NHL 2K9. And he was here, in this small studio in a nondescript office park for an all-day motion-capture filming session for … Read more

Computer companies are pushing to swap the violence in video games with messages of social change.

Next week, Advanced Micro Devices plans to announce a project designed to teach kids how to build video games that promote social causes such as fighting poverty or protecting the environment. Called Changing the Game, the project will fund nonprofit organizations that inspire kids with video games, and it will develop curriculum for youth to build their own software for games. Changing the Game is the first initiative funded by the chipmaker's newly formed AMD Foundation, a grant-making organization.

At the same time … Read more

NOVATO, Calif.--I'm sitting outside a nondescript warehouse space in this Marin County town, and sitting right behind me is Rick Nash, an NHL all-star with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

All of us are chowing down on barbecue, and every single one of us is wearing comfortable clothes: jeans, T-shirts, and the like.

But not Nash. He's in a full-body motion-capture suit. That's because he's here to for a mo-cap filming session for 2K Sports' forthcoming hockey video game, NHL 2K9.

I'll run a full story on this later today, and a full gallery, most … Read more

Forget Wii parties. Wii-habilitation is where it's at.

The popular Nintendo device for playing games like virtual bowling or tennis has turned into a rehab tool at cutting-edge health care centers around the country. And now researchers at the University of South Carolina are turning the trend into a research project that will study exactly how well the Wii and other games can help stroke victims recover motor skills and overcome a fear of falling after their trauma.

The research is part of a new $2 million grant from philanthropic group the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which will be … Read more

GameStop, a leading video game retailer, has decided that it will no longer stock Microsoft's Zune players, citing poor sales. And while I don't quite agree with my fellow-blogger Don Reisinger that this is the beginning of the end for Zune, it's hard to see any silver lining in the news.

Microsoft's entry into the consumer electronics space came with a thorny channel problem. Microsoft sells the vast majority of its products through PC makers, who bundle Windows (and often Office and other software) on new PCs, and through well-established partners who specialize in selling to … Read more

Cash-strapped game junkies can score a refurbished Xbox 360 Premium console for just $219.99, plus a very reasonable 10 bucks for shipping. That's a pretty solid deal considering that it sells for $350 new.

The Premium version of the mega-popular game system includes a wireless controller, a 20GB hard drive, and a headset. Reseller Blue Bay Electronics doesn't specify the warranty period, but based on other Xbox refurbs I've seen, it's probably 60 days (you should definitely check with the company before ordering).

In addition to playing kick-ass games, the Xbox 360 supports movie and … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--When you're one of the earliest adopters of a new technology, or one of the first companies into a new space, you tend to be very bullish on its future.

That energy was very much in evidence Thursday at InterPlay, the first-ever conference solely devoted to social gaming.

If you're not familiar with the concept of social gaming--small, casual game applications designed to be played on social networks like Facebook--you soon will be. That's because there is a lot of interest--and a growing amount of venture capital--being focused on the young space.

Examples of the early … Read more