September 30, 2004
Music Videos Tap Video Games
[from wired.com]
Over the past few years, entertainment has become more incestuous than ever. Rock stars became actors, comic book characters morphed into title roles in blockbuster films and everyone involved goes to the same after-parties.
Now, the blending of popular culture has gone even further with a new MTV show of animated music videos featuring popular video game characters performing bands' songs.
Today's the Day. Known as "video mods," the videos star characters from The Sims 2, Tribes: Vengeance, BloodRayne and other games jamming on guitar, break dancing and belting out the latest tracks from Evanescence, the Von Bondies, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, Fountains of Wayne and other bands. MTV2 showcases these videos in a half-hour show called, what else, Video Mods.
"Music videos and video games (are) two roads that have been pointing to each other and about to intersect," said Alex Coletti, executive producer for MTV2, which broadcasts Video Mods. "I know that our audience, when they're not watching music videos, they're playing video games. Here's a way to do both."
Posted by richard ting at September 30, 2004, 11:28 PM
September 29, 2004
"Tokyo Game Show 2004" (Sept 24-26, 2004)
[from eurotechnology.com]
The "Tokyo Game Show" is probably one of the most important - maybe THE most important - game show globally to set the trends.
Over 100 game software companies preview their lates releases. This years highlights was SONY with a stunning display of the new "PlayStation Portable" - PSP - .
In a stunning arena around a huge upscaled PSP model, visitors could play with the software SONY partners have prepared for PSP. SONY also arranged an amazing preview display of the new "Gran Turismo 4" racing game to come out later in 2004. "Gran Turismo 4" is typical for the hyper popular car racing game sector. DoCoMo also had a stunning display area, highlighting 15 of DoCoMos most important partner companies. DoCoMo has over 4000 i-mode content partners aligned, and games are one of the most important area on the i-mode menu - many customers are driven to buy the next handset upgrade for the new game content they can play. Therefore DoCoMos display was centered on the 900i FOMA/3G handset series.
Posted by richard ting at September 29, 2004, 10:15 AM
September 14, 2004
Interactive fiction for gamers
[from trendcentral]
| By now it’s no new news that the gaming industry is rapidly becoming a leader in the entertainment world. The latest evolution in the gaming category is the genre of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs). ARGs are a form of interactive fiction that use a variety of platforms, such as television, radio, newspapers, Internet, email, SMS, telephone, voicemail, and regular mail to deliver stories and puzzles to enhance products such as video games, movies, and books. ARGs are typically comprised of a secret group of Puppetmasters who create and control the stories and puzzles and a public group of players, known as the collective detective, that try to solve the puzzles and thereby further the story.
While ARGs have been around for a couple of years (there was one surrounding the release of the movie Artificial Intelligence: AI) only recently have they really been taking off. I Love Bees is an ARG created specifically for the release of Halo 2 that is attracting a global fanbase. The latest I Love Bees stunt involved web-imbedded code with payphone booth coordinates, phone calls, secret passwords, and audio files. While ARGs haven’t quite hit the mainstream at this point, marketers should be taking note of ARGs, as their diverse media format seems conducive for brand integration and promotions. For more info, check out www.ilovebees.com and www.argn.com, the definitive website for ARG news and info. |  |
Posted by richard ting at September 14, 2004, 11:13 PM
September 09, 2004
“Mama Said Knock You Out”: Def Jam Fight For NY Soundtrack revealed
It’s nothing we didn’t expect, but nonetheless Fight For NY’s soundtack features an impressive lineup of hip hop vets and up-and-comers.
The list is as follows (as posted on 1up.com):
”America’s Most” — Method Man, Redman
”Anything Goes” — C-N-N
”Are We Cuttin’” — Pastor Troy
”Bust” — Outkast
”Comp” — Comp
”Flipside” — Freeway
”Get Into It” — Comp
”Get It Now” — Bless
”Let’s Get Dirty” — Redman
”Let’s Go” — Shawnna
”Lil’ Bro” — Ric-a-Che
”Make It Hurt” — Busta Rhymes
”Mama Said Knock You Out” — LL Cool J
”Man Up” — Sticky Fingaz
”Mother Mother” — Xzibit
”Move!” — Public Enemy
”’Nuff Respect” — Big Daddy Kane
”O.G. Original Gangster” — Ice-T
”Pistol Grip Pump” — Volume 10
”Pop Off” — Joe Budden
”Poppa Large” — Ultramagnetic MCs
”See About Ya” — Beezle featuring Bonecrusher
”Seize the Day” — Bless
”Take a Look at My Life” — Fat Joe
”Walk With Me” - Joe Budden
”We Gon’ Hit ‘Em” — Deuce, Dub and the Junkyard Gang
”What’s Happenin’” — Method Man
”Yes Sir” — C-N-N