Data Filter

Whassup?: The rumor mill explod this week with a purportedly leaked Microsoft presentation that showed three Xbox nearest models, models with and without hard drives and an upper-end design that could run Windows software and have media center functionality. The latter pattern the Xbox Next PC would draw near out a year after the initial Xbox archetypes which the Microsoft presentation pegg as Autumn 2005

in the way that What?: The Xbox Next PC would also have a wireless keyboard and mouse, a CD-burner and would be intended for HDTV hook-up Analysts have speculated that one as well as the other Sony and MS would create hardware tiers in order to secure over the pricing problems associated with multi-function game soothes and what MS has planned here prompts that the Xbox is about to be integrated with the larger M tendency to meet plans. Don't be surprised to diocese more links to MSN, the M set-top receptacle interface and MSN music.

Whassup?: Marvel is suing NCSoft above the latter's use of certain superhero figures that bear likeness [i]or[/i] resemblance to Marvel characters "The Hulk" and "X-Men" The game in question, City of Heroes, permits users customize their player/characters endlessly NCSoft claims, and in like manner it cannot be held responsible for player characters that direct the eye like copyrighted heroes.

thus What?: While character copyright battles have been a staple of the comics industry since Superman su Captain Marvel in the 1940 this may be an interesting proof case, because Marvel's claim is that CoH deliberately allows users to make their characters gaze just like Marvel super heroes. Is giving someone the tools to violate copyright the same as violating the copyright yourself?

Whassup?: Activision will be promoting its Tony Hawk subterraneous 2 and Spiderman 2 titles in the Channel individual "Hacienda on Wheels," a bus where Channel single will tape its daily of recent origins program for schools as it travels to academy sites around the country. Channel individual which pipes news into 12000 institutes will offer demos of the Activision titles after each day's taping and award copies to of recent origins trivia contest winners.

with equal reason What?: Good thinking outside the case on Activision's part, because marketing into high gymnasiums is a tough and sensitive area that Primedia's Channel individual figured out long ago. There are in fact a number of untapped points of ingress into the high school and middle institute markets, including a number of sports pub that seminarys allow through their well-guarded marketing filters.

Whassup?: through piggybacking on the traffic generated by dint of a nearby Wal-Mart, a CyberZone game center became the fastest growing vent for the chain. CyberZone render free of accessed next to a massive two-story Wal-Mart superstore in El Cajon, Calif., and discovered that parents were dropping their kids not on to play while the oldster shopped

thus What?: As game specialty stores emphasize the lower-overhead strip-mall stores they are perfect venues for partnering with game center like these. flat if the parents aren't also shopping at the same venue they find the settings familiar and safe enough to bring their kids. The synergies possible between game retail vents and stores that actually encourage play should be enormous.

Whassup?: As many retailers broke the way date for Half Life 2 early buyer discovered that they still couldn't play the game because HL2 required online authentication before unlocking. In an unprecedent statement at the Valve Software site, the company said, "This is not Valve's choice. Vivendi is insisting that the game has not notwithstanding been released, and has threatened that Valve would be in violation of its contract if we activate the Half-Life 2 stream authentication server at this time."

thus What?: Whoa! The long-rumored tensions between Valve and its publisher Vivendi Universal Games finally spills into the highways and even sticks gamers in the middle. It positive looks like this marriage is above HL2 should have been launched with the same fanfare and PR savvy as Doom 3 In the case of GTA: SA and Halo 2 pre-release stories of piracy sole fueled consumer and press anticipation, while this kind of sniping between developer and publisher follows in release day stories focused solely upon when and whether Valve's activation server kicked in.

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