Guillermo Del Toro Game Project InSane Sees Interest

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Guillermo del Toro has revealed that there is interest in the game InSane from a major game company. THQ canceled the game last year as a cost cutting measure, handing the rights back to del Toro.

“We are in talks with a very, very big company. I can’t say who, but it’s one of the big ones. They really responded to the game, they responded to what we were trying,” said del Toro. “Some of the devices of the game I need to update, because now I’ve seen them in other games that just came out. That always happens. But the principle we’re trying to do with the game is to make it a really immersive narrative experience. It’s still a really challenging proposal.”

Source: Toronto Sun

Al Jazeera Scoops Up Current TV

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Al Jazeera has announced that it is acquiring Current TV. The plan will be to shut down Current and start an English-language channel focused more on America, which will be available in more than 40 million homes with newscasts emanating from both New York and Doha, Qatar.

The challenge will be persuading Americans to watch, hard considering the number of 24 news stations and the stereotypes about the channel that persist to this day. “There are still people who will not watch it, who will say that it’s a ‘terrorist network,’ ” said Philip Seib, the author of The Al Jazeera Effect. “Al Jazeera has to override that by providing quality news.”

“There’s a major hole right now that Al Jazeera can fill. And that is providing an alternative viewpoint to domestic news, which is very parochial,” said Cathy Rasenberger, a cable consultant who has worked with Al Jazeera on distribution issues in the past. “[However,] there is a limited amount of interest in international news in the United States.”

Source: New York Times

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American McGee’s Akaneiro Gets Kickstarter

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American McGee and Spicy Horse have launched the Kickstarter for Akaneiro. Unique among Kickstarter campaigns is that this game exists right now — Spicy Horse is seeking to improve it with crowd funding.

Akaneiro is a free-to-play title that will be supported with content, maps and cosmetic items available for sale. With the Kickstarter, they are hoping to include a Android and iOS tablet version, co-op multiplayer, an equipment crafting system, and improved community support .

Source: Kickstarter.com

Nvidia Signs Six Partners For Grid Cloud Gaming Platform

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Nvidia’s Grid Cloud Gaming Platform has signed up with partners Agawi in the U.S., Cloud Union and Cyber Cloud in China, G-Cluster Global in Japan, Playcast Media Systems in Israel, and Ubitus in Taiwan. It is expected that this will help enhance the offerings of the company’s new portable console Project Shield.

“By using the Grid Platform, our partners will allow gamers to play anywhere, anytime, without being tethered to a box,” said Phil Eisler, Nvidia’s general manager of cloud gaming. “The world’s most exciting games can now be played as easily as you can stream a movie, right onto your TV or mobile device. No more discs to shuffle or files to download and install.”

L.A.’s First Disaster Of 2013

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[a]list daily operates out of Southern California, so it’s only natural that we want to share with everyone our first disaster of 2013. Orange County, California-based KDOC decided it wanted to put on a live New Year’s Eve show from the Sunset Strip in L.A., perhaps giving that staid old Times Square shindig a run for its money. It promised big stars like Eva Longoria, Mario Lopez and Jennifer Love Hewitt. They didn’t make it. Celebrities who did, like host Jamie Kennedy and singer Macy Gray, weren’t in their best form. Neither was the production crew, which may not have had a lot of experience running live television.

KDOC took their video down.  Clips of the show’s “highlights,” all of which are presented as seen on TV, are starting to go viral.   And for good reason.  Caveat spectator – plenty of NSFW language here.

 

Angry Birds Sees 30 Million Downloads Over Holidays

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Rovio announced that Angry Birds has seen over 30 million downloads on the week of December 22-29. Over 8 million downloads were made on Christmas day alone, or nearly nearly one download for every new device activated this past Christmas.

“It’s been an amazing year and we can’t thank our fans enough for their fantastic support,” said Rovio. “Stay tuned in 2013 for even more incredible surprises!”

Angry Birds Star Wars has held the number-one position on the U.S. iPhone chart ever since its release on November 8, 2012.

Internet Ready Devices More Common Than People In U.S.

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The NPD Group reported in its “Connected Home” study that compared to the 315 million residents in the U.S., there are 425 million gadgets to get online. The most connected devices were desktops/laptops at 183.8 million, followed by smartphones at 133 million.

Also on the list are 39 million console systems, 31.8 million tablets, 16 million HDTVs online, 12.9 million Blu-ray players, and 8.5 million streaming media boxes. In the future, NPD Group expects the second-screen experience and integration between TVs and mobile phones to push the market.

“Through 2013, multi-screen and multi-device synergy will lead the growth in the broader connected device market, but only if services consumers desire are delivered in a simplistic manner,” said John Buffone, director of the NPD’s Connected Intelligence team. “In this connected world, content providers and consumer technology OEMs need to determine the optimal mix of services and have them on the right devices.”

Infographic On Casual Games In 2012

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Rebel Entertainment release an infographic on the happenings for the casual gaming industry in 2012. It was an eventful year for casual gaming, leave no doubt about it.

“Smartphone and tablet popularity continued to grow the casual gaming market in 2012, and once again the industry saw increased revenues,” said Mike Goslin, general manager of Rebel Entertainment. “The genre is finally being accepted by a mainstream audience and becoming a mainstay of pop culture, which means casual games will likely dominate the market this year as more game developers and publishers answer the demand for fun but rich and challenging casual game experiences.”

 

Sony Files For Used Game Blocking Patent

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Sony has filed a patent application for blocking used games in consoles, such as radio frequency identification. This method would tie games to a specific console, allowing it to check to see if the content was restricted before allowing it to be played.

“As a result, the dealing of electronic content in the second-hand markets is suppressed, which in turn supports the redistribution of part of proceeds from sales of the electronic content to the developers,” notes the patent. “Though in the following description a game application is exemplified as the electronic content, the present embodiment is similarly applicable to various kinds of electronic content such as an office suite, images, and music content.”

Speculation has run rampant whether Sony would block used games in its next home console, though they have yet to offer an official statement on the matter. For the record, Sony filed for this patent in Japan back in April 2010, and filed it in the U.S. in September 2012.

Source: FreePatentsOnline.com