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Microsoft Corp. will unlock the digital-distribution capabilities of its next-generation console, Xbox 360, to Hollywood studios beginning Nov. 22.

Xbox 360 gamers in the U.S., totaling at least 3 million, will be able to purchase TV shows and download them to their gaming hard drive as well as rent and watch movies on their consoles.

The first wave of content will include dozens of high-definition and standard-definition offerings from such partners as Warner Bros. (“Batman Forever,” “V for Vendetta,” “The Nine”), Paramount Pictures (“Nacho Libre,” “Jackass: The Movie”), MTV Networks (“South Park,” “SpongeBob SquarePants”), CBS (“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Survivor”) and Turner Broadcasting (“Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” “Robot Chicken”).

Xbox 360 represents the first video game console to secure programming from major content providers as well the opening of a new front in digital-media distribution alongside the likes of Apple’s iTunes and Verizon’s VCast.

Microsoft director of platform strategy Scott Henson said there will be thousands of hours of television and movie content available on the console’s virtual storefront, Xbox Live Marketplace, by year’s end.

“The reason the Hollywood studios are excited to partner with us is because we have this 18- to 34-year-old demographic that’s extremely valuable and attractive to the networks and content providers,” Henson said. “This is a great opportunity to reach them in a different way. I think you’re going to see because of that a lot of other studios jumping on board over time with additional TV shows and movies.”

Microsoft isn’t divulging pricing yet on TV shows or movies, but Henson said it will be competitive with other digital offerings, with HD content slightly more expensive than standard definition.

TV episodes will be updated on a regular basis and available for purchase as early as the day after they air.

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Price tag $99… it better be made out of gold!

Purchase the Halo Legendary Edition and receive a Halo Spartan Mjolnir Mark VI Helmet Replica!* Also includes three bonus discs that contain:
Behind-the-scenes at Bungie Studios with new insights into the Halo Universe and the making of Halo 3.
A special hi-res collection of all cinematics from Halo 1 and Halo 2 with director commentary from the Bungie Team bonus
Community content from Red vs. Blue, This Spartan Life and Exclusive Gamer Tiles & a Theme
Each unit will be serialized for added individuality and collectability. Not life-size.
Due to the unusal size and weight of this product an extra $5 shipping and handling fee will be applied to all orders.

*Product specifications are subject to change by Microsoft. Helmet cannot be worn.

Halo 3 is the third game in the Halo Trilogy and will provide the thrilling conclusion to the events begun in Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo 3 will pick up where Halo 2 left off. The Master Chief is returning to Earth to finish the fight. The Covenant occupation of Earth has uncovered a massive and ancient object beneath the African sands – an object who’s secrets have yet to be revealed. Earth’s forces are battered and beaten. The Master Chief’s AI companion Cortana is still trapped in the clutches of the Gravemind – a horrifying Flood intelligence, and a civil war is raging in the heart of the Covenant. This is how the world ends…

Source: Associated Press

Electronic Arts Inc. is taking the wraps off of a major overhaul to its download service for computer games, signaling the largest video game publisher’s commitment to the growing trend of online distribution.

The Redwood City-based company said it plans to officially announce the new portal, EA Link, on Friday, though the retooled service was running Wednesday.

It replaces an earlier service called EA Downloader, the company’s admittedly clunky year-old effort at offering downloadable content for its PC games.

With EA Link users can download materials faster, search for products in a more organized fashion, launch purchased games directly, and have their payment information, including a new online payment option through PayPal, linked to their accounts.

The site currently has 16 PC game titles available for download. Any upcoming PC games will be made available on disk at retail stores as well as in a digital version at EA Link _ at the same price and on the same day, the company said.

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Gateway is showing gamers some love by not only ramming the Core 2 Duo inside their new FX530XL, but also overclocking it for you. The FX530XL comes with a 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor that can be factory overclocked to 4.2GHz. The system will also support Intel’s quad CPUs when they start making their appearance. We especially like that Gateway is backing their overclocked CPUs with a full warranty and will replace them should anything go wrong. For $4,999, they better.

Gateway News

Source: WingNut Films

After Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox backed out of co-financing the Halo movie, it was reported that prep work would continue at Jackson’s Weta studios in New Zealand. But now, Jackson and Microsoft’s WingNut Films has released the following statement saying that production has halted:

As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement. At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen. We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp’s vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait.

The script, originally written by Alex Garland and rewritten by D.B. Weiss, was to have gotten another rewrite by A History of Violence scribe Josh Olson. The movie was previously targeted for a summer 2008 release.

We’re eagerly waiting for the day the Wii hits store shelves, but till then, we have to satisfy our craving with news like this. The UK’s EDGE magazine has lifted the curtain on Nintendo’s plans to release a premium Wii with DVD movie playback. The Premium Wii will only be available in Japan and it won’t be of the Blu-ray or HD DVD variety, but having the ability to play regular DVDs on the Wii is an add-on we wouldn’t mind having.

Source: Variety

Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment and Capcom Ltd. are developing a new movie based on the popular videogame franchise “Street Fighter,” says Variety. Screenwriter Justin Marks has been hired to adapt.

Hyde Park and Capcom — Japanese publisher of “Street Fighter” — will produce the film in a joint venture.

The movie will focus on the game’s most popular female fighter, Chun-Li, but the exact storyline is being kept under wraps.

In 1994, Universal released a Street Fighter movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme that featured most of the characters from the game.

Hyde Park and Capcom’s film is targeted to be released in 2008, the 20th anniversary of the game franchise.

Marks just completed writing Voltran for producer Mark Gordon.

Source: Reuters

Reuters reports that Activision’s Marvel: Ultimate Alliance was the top game last week:

A video game which lets players pick a dream team of Marvel super heroes flew in its debut week into the No. 1 slot on UBS Securities’ weekly U.S. list of best-selling video games.

Activision Inc.’s “Marvel: Ultimate Alliance” pits Marvel teams against Dr. Doom and the newly reformed Masters of Evil, who have launched a bid for global domination.

Available on most currently available systems, the title has won strong critical reviews. Versions for Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s Wii are expected next month, when those consoles are also expected to be released.

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In an effort to show consumers what its 50 GB next-generation Blu-ray Disc technology can add to movies, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will give the first 500,000 PlayStation 3 owners a free copy of Will Ferrell’s summer hit “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”

Sony synergy abounded at the news conference in San Francisco that unveiled the 22 launch titles and key functionality of the long-awaited PS3.

During a demonstration of the PlayStation Store, part of the free online community that gamers can plug into, trailers were shown for Sony Pictures’ upcoming “Casino Royale,” which shares the Nov. 17 launch date with PS3, and next summer’s “Spider-Man 3,” which has a PS3 video game in development by Activision.

The PS3, which will be available with a 20 GB hard drive for $500 and a 60 GB hard drive, HDMI cable and built-in WiFi for $600, will offer high-def video games and movies in 1080p. In addition to playing Blu-ray Disc games and movies from an assortment of studios, gamers will be able to download HD video content, including movies down the line.

PS3′s PlayStation Network broadband service also will allow gamers to download music, videos, original games and gaming content straight to the hard drive. Most of the downloadable content will be free. In addition to playing games and communicating with friends online, gamers will be able to surf the Web for free.

Sony will have 400,000 PS3s available in North America for launch with a total of 1 million hardware units shipped by year’s end. About 80% of the PS3s will be the $600 versions, in which early adopters are more interested.

Even though hardware will be in short supply throughout the holiday season and likely into the first quarter, Sony will have a huge retail presence that will allow consumers to test the hardware. Beginning Thursday, Sony will have 15,000 PS3 kiosks at retailers nationwide.

“Universally, PlayStation products will have the lead-in position,” Sony Computer Entertainment America vp Jack Tretton said. “They will have dominant shelf space. In addition, these kiosks will be networked so they can stream game demos and they’ll no longer be dependent on someone carrying a disc into the store to load it up.”

Electronic Arts, which is developing 30 PS3 games, will have four titles available this year, including such popular franchises as “Madden NFL 07,” “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07,” “Fight Night Round 3″ and “Need for Speed: Carbon.” Activision is bringing such key franchises to PS3 as “Call of Duty 3,” “Tony Hawk’s Project 8″ and “Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.” Sony will have a trio of exclusive titles: “Resistance: Fall of Man,” which is in development in Burbank at Insomniac Games; “NBA 07,” the first sports game in 1080p; and “Genji: Days of the Blade.” Sony Online Entertainment will introduce “Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom” to PS3 gamers.

“Untold Legends” was a franchise born on PlayStation Portable that has migrated to PS3. Sony plans on making it easy for gamers who own PS3 and PSP to share content through Remote Play. The cross media bar onscreen display that Sony introduced last year with PSP is being used by PS3 and by the new Sony Bravia HDTVs, which allows for seamless navigation.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

NEW YORK – A federal judge refused a request from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. to immediately dismiss some claims in a lawsuit accusing it of selling “Grand Theft Auto” video games containing sexually explicit images under the wrong content label.

The lawsuit filed in July 2005 seeking class-action status, said Take-Two’s alleged misconduct violated consumer protection laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since then a number of cases making the same claim were consolidated in Manhattan federal court.

Take-Two and its subsidiary, Rockstar Games Inc., had argued in its motion to dismiss parts of the lawsuit that the plaintiffs could only file claims in the states where they resided, not all 50 states.

But U.S. District Judge Shirley Wohl Kram denied Take-Two’s motion and said she would reconsider if class-action status were granted in the case.

“If class certification is granted, the court will have the benefit of a well-defined class and a more fully developed treatment of potential choice of law questions,” Kram wrote in an opinion dated Wednesday.

A spokesman for Take-Two was not immediately available to comment on the judge’s order.

The bestselling “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” was found to have hidden sex scenes in 2005. The explicit scenes, known as “Hot Coffee” allowed players to engage in virtual sex acts.

When the scenes were discovered, the video game ratings board slapped a restrictive “adult” rating on the game. Take- Two had to pull the games off store shelves and repackage them with the “adult” rating, which crimped sales and disrupted the company’s operations.