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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- October 22, 2002
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Napster Gets $200,000 Loan from Bidder in Bankruptcy Proccedings
o Report: U.K. Video Game Sales Up 12.9% in 2002, Reaching $1.05 Billion
o Burst.com Raises $600,000 as it Continues Legal Battle with Microsoft
o Game Developer Eidos Delays Release of Next "Tomb Raider" Title
> Digital Media Wire Event: "iTV Visions" | NYC | Nov. 14
> Featured Event: Tablet PC Digital Publishing Event, M-Commerce Event
o Briefly Noted: Verizon Online Games Center, Nokia - IMG, Sony - portable
CD-RW/DVD player, IGN Play, DivXNetworks - Kiss Technology, "X-Men: Next
Dimension," TVN Entertainment - Britney Spears, "Scene It?", Art Institute
- Virtual & Game Programming degree
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> Jobs: East Coast Sales Rep.
> Events
> Marketplace: DeskTop Author, Interest-Based Navigation
Full Classifieds located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.
To post a Classified Ad:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/mainpostingpage.html
or contact David Peebler at david@digitalmediawire.com
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o Napster Gets $200,000 Loan from Bidder in Bankruptcy Proccedings
New York -- Bankrupt file-sharing service Napster will receive a $200,000
loan to keep its operations going while a deal to sell its assets to a
potential bidder can be finalized, The Los Angeles Times reported. A
Delaware bankruptcy judge approved the loan from a company called Napco
Acquisition, which also signed a letter of intent to buy some of the
company's assets, according to Reuters. Rick Antonoff, an attorney
representing a group of Napster's unsecured creditors, told The Times he
believes that a final agreement to sell Napster's assets to the new bidder
could be reached in two weeks. The preliminary terms offer $5 million in
cash and an undisclosed amount of other consideration for some of
Napster's assets.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-napster22oct22.story
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=internetnews&StoryID=1614301
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o Report: U.K. Video Game Sales Up 12.9% in 2002, Reaching $1.05 Billion
London -- Sales of video games in the U.K. are up 12.9 percent in the
first nine months of 2002 compared with the same period last year,
reaching a record $1.05 billion, according to figures released by the
Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA). The
industry trade group said sales between the third and fourth quarter
generally increase by 140 percent with the holiday shopping season, making
for a projected 2002 total game sales figure of $1.8 billion. The EPSPA's
numbers indicate that so far this year, games sales for Microsoft's Xbox
totaled $58.7 million, while Sony PlayStation 2 game sales reached $396
million and Nintendo GameCube titles sold $52.6 million. "Should sales
increase throughout the festive rush, as we have seen in previous years,
2002 will be our biggest year ever," said ELSPA director general Roger
Bennett. "Our industry has already outgrown cinema box office sales and
video rental and we can soon expect it to outgrow music software, as the
exploitation opportunities for the intellectual property owned by games
software publishers expands to access new consumers."
http://www.elspa.com/pr/pressrelease.asp?mode=view&t=1&id=351&ref=home
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o Burst.com Raises $600,000 as it Continues Legal Battle with Microsoft
Santa Rosa, Calif. -- In a move that provides it with much-needed capital
as it continues its legal battle against Microsoft, Burst.com, a maker of
media delivery software, said on Tuesday that it has raised more than
$700,000 in a new round of financing from a small number of private
investors. Burst filed suit against Microsoft in June, accusing the
software giant of incorporating its technology into the new Windows Media
Player 9 and excluding it from the market through various anticompetitive
practices.
http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=CpBtnqeSbmdiWndC3odu
http://www.burst.com
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o Game Developer Eidos Delays Release of Next "Tomb Raider" Title
London -- Game developer Eidos announced on Tuesday that it will delay the
release of two anticipated titles -- "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of
Darkness" and "Championship Manager 4" from November until February 2003,
missing sales during the key holiday shopping season. The company said it
"believes that both games will benefit from further refinement in order to
maximize the game play experience and their potential in a very
competitive market place. Eidos remains confident that a later launch date
will not adversely affect budgeted sales." The Tomb Raider game will be
the sixth installment in the franchise, which was turned into a movie
starring Angelina Jolie as the game's heroine, Lara Croft.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021022/222335_1.html
http://www.eidos.com
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EVENT -- DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE Presents...
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iTV Visions: Technology Transforming Entertainment
New York City | Thurs. November 14 | 1:30-7:30 PM
In association with the Interactive Television Alliance
Sponsors: Etronica | ITA | Filter Media | AIM
This half-day executive forum will present views on the future of
entertainment based on next generation interactive television technologies
emerging today. Thought leaders from leading edge companies that are
driving these technologies into the marketplace will gather to show how
entertainment is on the verge of yet another radical transformation.
For more information and to register:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events/itv_visions_111902.htm
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==================
FEATURED SECTION
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Featured Section posting at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/featuredpostingpage.htm
TABLET PC DIGITAL PUBLISHING CONFERENCE
Attend the Tablet PC Digital Publishing Conference and see firsthand the
platform that magazine, newspaper & book publishers have been waiting for.
Hear from leading Tablet technology and publishing leaders including key
executives from Microsoft Corporation. Sponsored by the Open eBook Forum,
Microsoft, OverDrive, McGraw-Hill, NYU Center for Publishing, Adobe,
Accenture, AOL Time Warner Book Group and Palm Digital Media. The Tablet
PC Digital Publishing Conference will be held on Thurs., December 5 in New
York City. Space is limited so register now at:
http://www.openebook.org/tabletpc
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Making M-Commerce Work:
Collaboration Strategies for Content Creators, Network Operators and
Service Providers.
An event featuring 2 keynotes followed by an industry leaders roundtable
discussion, 2 breakout panels led by journalists and other leading
critiques of the mobile commerce world, and a luncheon exploring practical
solutions for mobile commerce. Digital Media Wire readers receive a 15%
discount! Register by calling 1.213.740.0980. Oct. 22nd, 9:00am-5:30pm,
Davidson Conference Center, USC, 3415 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles.
http://www.marshall.usc.edu
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Briefly Noted:
(New York) DSL provider Verizon Online on Tuesday launched Games Center,
offering a range of online games for Verizon broadband subscribers. Among
those featured will be Seattle-based WildTangent's downloadable games,
available for free to try and for purchase for between $9.99 and $19.99.
Also offered on Games Center will be FoxSports.com's baseball game "Hit
the Pros," as well as gaming news headlines, chat rooms, tips and tricks.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021022/nytu056_1.html
http://dsllive.verizon.net/games
http://www.wildtangent.com
(Helsinki) Cell phone maker Nokia on Tuesday announced a partnership with
IMG, an international sports marketing company, to create a Multimedia
Message Service-based (MMS) sports news service. The MMS Essential Sports
Service will deliver sports images, news, updates and audio commentary to
sports' fans' mobile phones. Content provided by IMG's TWI, an independent
distributor of televised sports, will be tailored to suit the specific
interests in Europe, the U.S. and Asia Pacific. The service will be
available to Nokia's operator customers, who will then be able to brand
their services individually.
http://press.nokia.com/PR/200210/878041_5.html
http://www.imgworld.com/areasofbusiness/twi/default.htm
(San Jose, Calif.) Sony Electronics has released a new portable disc drive
that functions as a CD player and burner, as well as a DVD player when
connected to a PC or TV. The device is the size of a portable CD player,
and can play discs containing MP3 or other audio file formats, in addition
to connecting to a PC for use as a CD-RW drive. Sony said the sub-$300
MPD-AP20U will go on sale in November.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021021/sfm048_2.html
(San Francisco) IGN Entertainment, operator of the IGN.com games portal,
announced on Tuesday the launch of an online games arcade, IGN Play. IGN
Play includes free online Games include developer Midway's classic arcade
titles "Defender" and "Spy Hunter." Future plans include the release of
multiplayer and roleplaying titles, as well as subscription-only or
pay-per-view games. San Francisco-based IGN recently began selling new and
used games in its online store.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021022/220240_1.html
http://play.ign.com
(San Diego) DivXNetworks, a developer of video compression and
video-on-demand delivery technologies, said on Tuesday that Danish DVD
player manufacturer Kiss Technology will release a DVD player capable of
playing DivX video files. Kiss Technology's DP-450 is the first DVD player
to support San Diego-based DivXNetwork's video compression format, and
will be compatible with DivX versions 4.xx and 5.xx.
http://www.divxnetworks.com
http://www.kiss-technology.com
(Santa Monica, Calif.) Video game developer and publisher Activision on
Tuesday released "X-Men: Next Dimension" for Sony PlayStation 2 and
Nintendo GameCube, as part of its licensing arrangement with comic book
publisher Marvel Enterprises. The game features 20 different X-Men
superheroes from Marvel's ranks. A version of the game for Microsoft's
Xbox will be released later this month.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021022/latu061_1.html
http://www.marvel.com
http://www.activision.com
(Burbank, Calif.) TVN Entertainment, a provider of video-on-demand and
pay-per-view delivery technology for cable TV operators, announced on
Tuesday it will broadcast a Britney Spears pay-per-view concert, as part
of its earlier announced agreement with Image Entertainment. Burbank-based
TVN secured distribution rights with DirecTV, Echostar, Viewer's Choice
Canada, Bell ExpressVu and Canal Indigo for the event, which will also be
offered to existing cable TV partners Adelphia, Charter, Comcast, Insight
and Mediacom. The concert, recorded in London in Nov. 2000, will premiere
on Nov. 23.
http://www.tvn.com
(Seattle) The creators of "Scene It?", a new movie-related DVD board game,
on Tuesday announced the availability of the game at retailers including
Nordstrom, Nordstrom.com, The Game Keeper and Wizards of the Coast. The
movie trivia game features hundreds of movie clips made possible through
partnerships with 20th Century Fox, Dreamworks-SKG, MGM, Sony Pictures
(Columbia Tri-Star) and Universal Studios. The game uses technology called
Optreve, which "allows DVD players to randomly access hundreds of video
clips and keep track of what has already been played, ensuring that every
game of Scene It? offers new and exciting challenges."
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/222950242&ticker=
http://www.sceneit.com
(San Francisco) The Art Institute of California in San Francisco announced
on Tuesday that a new bachelor's degree program in Visual & Game
Programming. The new degree is in addition to the school's existing degree
offering in Game Art & Design, but focuses more on training students to
become technical artists. Following intensive training in the foundations
of art and design, students in the program will enter into the more
technical areas of programming for 3-D animation, and will study
programming and scripting tools including Perl, C++, C-shell, MEL
scripting, MAXScript, DirectX & OpenGL.
http://www.aicasf.aii.edu/news_pressReleasesDetail.asp?nid=907
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CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
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To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobpostingpage.htm
East Coast Sales Rep - Imaging and Music Software Firm
Imaging and music software firm is seeking an independent, East Coast
sales representative. We have great products - you have strong
relationships with camera and computer hardware manufacturers and
marketers. Significant OEM experience strongly preferred. Position offers
a retainer and generous commissions. Interested parties should forward
their resume to David McKie at: david@simplestar.com
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====================
CLASSIFIEDS - EVENTS
====================
To Post Events: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/eventpostingpage.htm
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==========================
CLASSIFIEDS - MARKETPLACE
==========================
To Post Marketplace:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplacepostingpage.htm
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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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