Main Stories
o Chinese Govt. to Fund Promotion of Alternative DVD Format
o Microsoft Challenges Google with Online News Service
o Video Game Developer Majesco Acquired by ConnectivCorp
o MIT, Video Game Trade Group to Host Conference on Games in Education

o Briefly Noted: Roxio - chief financial officer, Interep - Yahoo's LAUNCHcast, Macrovision - 2 billion copy-protected tracks, Electronic Arts - "NFL Street" - "NCAA March Madness 2004," Nokia - "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004," Encore - "Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror," Microsoft Game Studios - "Project Gotham Racing 2," Square Enix U.S.A. - "Final Fantasy X-2," Acclaim - Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Atari, Sony Online Entertainment, Codemasters, Kazaa - $1 million print ad campaign

Beijing -- The Chinese government on Tuesday announced that it will fund a project to promote an alternative to the DVD video format, aimed at "attacking the market share" of DVD and relieving manufacturers of devices and media for the new format of license fees paid to the firms that invented DVD, The Associated Press reported. The new format -- called EVD (enhanced versatile disc) -- was developed by Beijing E-World Technology Co. Ltd. using compression technologies licensed from New York-based On2 Technologies. Development of the EVD format was funded by China's State Trade and Economic Commission and its Ministry of Information Industry. "By developing and promoting EVD, Chinese companies [have] gained much experience in competing with their global counterparts," Wang Jingchuan, commissioner of China's State Intellectual Property Office, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. Chinese officials did not say whether deals were in place for studios to release movies on EVD, but stated that EVD players would initially cost around $240 when released for this year's holiday shopping season.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56287-2003Nov18.html
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o Microsoft Challenges Google with Online News Service

London -- In a challenge to Google's domination of the online search market, Microsoft is planning a news search service in four European countries. CNET News.com reports that Microsoft is testing a site called MSN Newsbot that searches news in the languages of four countries -- the U.K., France, Italy and Spain. MSN Newsbot is an experimental, automated news service that gathers news from more than 4,000 sources online, according to the Newsbot Web site. The site is being developed in partnership with Moreover Technologies, a news data source, and Microsoft Research, its research and development unit. Google News draws an audience of about 2.5 million monthly, according to research estimates.
http://news.com.com/2100-1032-5108152.html 
http://uk.newsbot.msn.com
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o Video Game Developer Majesco Acquired by ConnectivCorp

New York -- ConnectivCorp, a New York-based holding company, announced on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding stock of Edison, N.J.-based video game publisher Majesco. Majesco will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of ConnectivCorp in exchange for 80% of ConnectivCorp shares. The deal, which was announced in October, is expected to close by the end of this month. Founded in 1986, Majesco is an active publisher of games for both consoles and the PC. The German production firm Boll KG recently purchased the rights to create a feature-length film based on Majesco's "BloodRayne" video game.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031118/185519_1.html 
http://www.majescogames.com 
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o MIT, Video Game Trade Group to Host Conference on Games in Education

Cambridge, Mass. -- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Comparative Media Studies department announced on Tuesday that it will hold a conference on the grounds of the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo video game convention, in conjunction with industry trade group the Entertainment Software Association. The three-day "Education Arcade Conference," taking place before the exhibition floor opens, will focus on the use of video games in education. "While historically educational games have been a bit like a spinach sundae -- not very tasty and not very good for you either -- more and more people are discovering the pedagogical potentials of games. The goal is to get educators and industry people talking and working together to see what we can build in the coming few years," said Henry Jenkins III, director of MIT Comparative Media Studies.
http://web.mit.edu/cms 
http://www.theesa.com 
http://www.educationarcade.org

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(Santa Clara, Calif.) Roxio, the developer of CD and DVD creation software that also owns the recently re-launched Napster service, announced that it has named Nand Gangwani as the company's new chief financial officer. Gangwani replaces outgoing CFO Elliot Carpenter, who resigned abruptly on Friday.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031114/sff050_1.html 
http://www.roxio.com

(New York) Interep, the nation's largest independent radio advertising sales and marketing company, announced on Tuesday an agreement with Yahoo to sell ads on its LAUNCHcast streaming radio service through a joint venture with Ronning/Lipset Radio. Arbitron data for September showed that LAUNCHcast's cume audience for the month topped 2.1 million listeners. "After doing due diligence in the marketplace, we found that both advertisers and ad agencies viewed the on-line audio marketplace as an opportunity to invest additional funds into audio entertainment," said Phil Brown, president of Interep's network division.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031118/185721_1.html 
http://www.interep.com

(Santa Clara, Calif.) Macrovision, a provider of copy-protection technologies for CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes and other media, announced on Tuesday that its CDS music copy-protection technology has now been utilized on over 2 billion commercially released tracks. The company's copy-protected CDs contain dual sessions, where one set of tracks is playable on normal CD players while a second protected set of tracks is playable on PCs, using Microsoft's Windows Media Player and associated digital rights management technology.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031118/185384_1.html 
http://www.macrovision.com

(Redwood City, Calif.) Electronic Arts announced on Tuesday that it has signed NFL professional athletes Barry Sanders, Ricky Williams and Shannon Sharpe as cover athletes for its "NFL Street" title for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. Currently in development at EA Tiburon for a January 2004 release, the game will feature 7-on-7 gameplay and other NFL legends like William "The Refrigerator" Perry and Lawrence Taylor. Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts also on Tuesday announced the release of "NCAA March Madness 2004" for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, developed by EA Canada, and "Medal of Honor Infiltrator" for Game Boy Advance, developed by EA Los Angeles and London-based Netherock Limited.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031118/185442_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031118/185383_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031118/185319_1.html
http://www.ncaamarchmadness2004.com 
http://www.moh.ea.com

(Helsinki) Cell phone maker Nokia announced on Tuesday that "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004," a game for its N-Gage hybrid cell phone/handheld video game device developed in conjunction with Electronic Arts, will be released in the first quarter of 2004. Nokia said the game will "make significant use of the connectivity features" of the N-Gage, which include Bluetooth technology that allows location-based multiplayer gaming.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031118/176203_1.html 
http://www.ea.com 
http://www.n-gage.com

(Los Angeles) Game developer Encore on Tuesday announced the release of its "Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror" title for PlayStation 2. Developed by Santa Monica, Calif.-based Black Ops Entertainment, the title includes a key mission where players must track and capture Osama bin Laden.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031118/latu005_1.html 
http://www.encoreusa.com 
http://www.blackops.com

(Redmond, Wash.) Microsoft Game Studios announced on Tuesday the release of its "Project Gotham Racing 2" for the Xbox. The title will also be released in Japan on Nov. 20 and in Europe on Nov. 28. Developed by Liverpool-based Bizarre Creations Ltd., the game features online play through the Xbox Live service. Microsoft also said it partnered with Malaco Music Group to release three soundtrack albums containing music featured in the game -- from artists including Simple Plan, American Hi-Fi and Smilez & Southstar -- for the holiday shopping season.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031118/sftu033_1.html
http://www.bizarrecreations.com 
http://64.224.111.156/malaco

(Los Angeles) Square Enix U.S.A., the U.S. distribution arm of the Japanese game developer, announced on Tuesday that it has shipped its "Final Fantasy X-2" title for PlayStation 2 to retailers. The title is a sequel to Square Enix's "Final Fantasy X," which to date has sold 6.4 million units worldwide.
http://www.square-enix-usa.com/games/FFX-2

(Glen Cove, N.Y.) Acclaim Entertainment said on Tuesday that it has added pro wrestler Jake "The Snake" Roberts to the lineup of over 70 wresters to appear in its "Legends of Wrestling: Showdown" video game. Currently in development at Acclaim's Austin studio, the title is scheduled for release in April 2004.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031118/nytu122_1.html 
http://www.acclaim.com 
http://www.legendsshowdown.com

(Beverly, Mass.) Atari on Tuesday announced the release of its "Kya: Dark Lineage" game for PlayStation 2. The title was developed by Atari's New York-based Eden Studios.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031118/185023_1.html 
http://www.edenstudios.net 
http://www.kya-game.com

(San Diego) Sony Online Entertainment on Tuesday released "EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers," the second edition of its massively multiplayer online roleplaying game for PlayStation 2 styled after its popular online PC title. The price of the game includes a 30-day subscription to the online world, after which users must pay $9.99 per month for continued access.
http://www.everquestonlineadventures.com

(New York) Video game publisher Codemasters on Tuesday shipped the Nintendo Game Boy Advance version of its "American Idol" game to retailers. The title is based on the amateur singer TV reality series airing on Fox in the U.S. that was originally produced in the U.K. by FremantleMedia.
http://www.codemasters.com/americanidol

(San Francisco) CNET News.com recently reported on the $1 million print ad campaign being launched this week by Kazaa file-sharing software distributor Sharman Networks, which will place ads in major newspapers and magazines including Rolling Stone. The ads target both file-swappers and record industry executives who the company said have refused to license their works for distribution on Kazaa. "It's a call to action," Sharman CEO Nikki Hemming told News.com. "We want to cut through the clutter, put our money where our mouth is and remind everybody of the opportunity being missed here… Altnet and Sharman have experienced deafness on the part of the industry for way too long, and there's a point where you have to take action."
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5108252.html
http://www.sharmannetworks.com

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