Gary's Blog

Just a place to find out what's on my mind, or what's occupying my time whilst I avoid actual "work."

 

VGN for September 30th, 2005

Video Game News:

Halo coming to a cell phone

In-Fusio in "Halo" mobile game deal with Microsoft Tue Sep 27, 8:05 AM ET
 
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) has struck a three-year licensing deal giving French mobile games maker In-Fusio rights to its blockbuster "Halo" video game franchise, In-Fusio said on Tuesday.

The French company can make mobile games and other mobile products such as ringtones based on the game.

Financial term of the deal were not disclosed.

Microsoft's "Halo 2" last year rang up $125 million on its first day in stores and fueled sales of Microsoft's     Xbox video game console.

 
More Courses on Video Games offered.

By MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 23, 8:06 AM ET
 

TROY, N.Y. - More and more, video game-related courses are being offered in colleges around the country in response to the digital media industry's appetite for skilled workers and the tastes of a new generation of students raised on Game Boy and Xbox.
 
Animation I, Cognition & Gaming and Computer Music are being offered as part of the year-old minor in game studies at RPI, one of dozens of schools that have added courses or degree programs related to video gaming in recent years.

RPI, which plans to offer a major in the field next year, graduated 27 gaming minors in its first year and expects a jump this year.

DVD dispute burns at PC makers

Inter-corporate squabbling continues as Dell and HP fire back in wake of Microsoft and Intel's "inaccurate" HD-DVD claims.
After quietly heating up over recent months, the battle over next-generation DVD formats boiled over Thursday, as Dell and Hewlett-Packard assailed Intel and Microsoft, which have lined up in the opposite camp.

Earlier this week, Microsoft and Intel announced that they were backing the HD-DVD format, saying its approach will spur easier home networking of movies and make it simpler to distribute hybrid discs containing both high-definition and traditional DVD movies. Dell and HP shot back Thursday, saying the world's largest software and processor makers were spreading "inaccurate" information. They also reiterated their backing for the rival Blu-ray format.

"From a PC end-user perspective, Blu-ray is a superior format," HP personal-storage unit general manager Maureen Weber said in a statement. Weber said Blu-ray offers anywhere from two-thirds to 150 percent more storage capacity, as well as higher transfer rates, and fits easily into slim notebooks. "The technical merits and consumer benefits of Blu-ray Disc make it the ideal solution for HP's customers."

What I've been playing:

Burnout Revenge on Xbox.

Far Cry Instincts.

What I NEED to play NOW!!!

We Love Katamari

Anime News:

Funimation channel

Funimation is launching the "Funimation Channel", the second 24-hr anime digital cable network in North America. The website for the channel will go live within a few weeks. OlympuSAT is the exclusive distributor and the FUNimation Channel is now available to video service providers throughout the United States.

Anime Network

Last week we reported that there would be changes coming to The Anime Network's (TAN) offerings at Comcast.

As of this morning TAN will be available on Comcast in two flavors. They will continue to be available in The Cutting Edge folder as a free on demand channel, and they will also be available on a pay-per-watch basis in the Events & Specials folder on the main On Demand page.

At this time ANN has not been able to confirm what difference there will be between the two offerings.

Convention Corner:

Screamfest!!  October 14th-16th.

Necronomicon!!  October 28th-30th.

posted by: Gary1059 at 21:37 | link | comments |