High Street retailer GAME has said that it expects to continue to see market growth through 2008, with increase in like-for-like sales for the fourth consecutive year.
For the 50 weeks ended January 12 2008, GAME reported like-for-like sales up by 43 per cent, and it now expects a further like-for-like growth of between 5 and 10 per cent for the current year.
The specialist retailer has benefited from strong hardware sales and expects a number of high-profile software releases to help the market during the first half of 2008.
"There is a strong pipeline of innovative software with some highly anticipated products scheduled for European release," noted the retailer, highlighting Nintendo's Wii Fit and Mario Kart, and Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.
"The Board believes that the market for PC and videogames products remains buoyant," said the company, ahead of its preliminary results due next month.
"With a large and growing installed base of hardware in the market, a strong line-up of new product launches, the PS3 yet to reach the first anniversary of its launch [in Europe] and the benefits of a full year of the Gamestation acquisition in prospect, the Board remains very confident in the outlook for the 53 weeks to 31 January 2009."
The company has also adjusted its profit estimates for the full year to January 31, 2008, expecting profits to be no less than GBP 74 million, slightly up on the previous estimate of GBP 73 million.
Atari's new President and Directeur Général Délégué of Infogrames Entertainment is none other than Phil Harrison, is anyone suprised?
This seems like good news for Atari, who of course dosen't seem like it will last long unless drastic measures are taken. Even with a huge title like DBZ Budokai Tenachai 3, Atari still managed to post a even bigger loss in Q3 of 2007, probably due to the crap like Jenga, etc not doing so well.
I don't know how well he ran Sony, but im guessing up until the PS3 he knew what he was doing, hopefully he is able to return the Atari name to its former glory, so in the future the only thing left of Atari won't be the "retro" Atari logo on T-shirts!
A few stories relating to the production of Half-Blood Prince have appeared online today.
- Ralph Fiennes, the actor who plays Lord Voldemort in the Potter films, has revealed in an interview with Ain't It Cool News that he won't be appearing in the sixth film. When asked about if he is signed for Deathly Hallows, he says "not yet."
- On ITV's This Morning, Damian Lewis (Helen McCrory's husband) revealed that Helen is filming her scenes as Narcissa Malfoy this week. Damian said she was "extremely excited" and is following blogs that are also excited.
- Lastly, a newspaper in Norway reports on some scenic filming being done in a small village called Bjorli. The crew is filming shots that will be used outside of the Hogwarts Express. With big thanks Karen, you can read a loose translation of the article at the link below.
In many days a filmteam consisting of 20 people has plowed the snowy village - secretly.
-Perfect! We have gotten the takes we need. Now we're going to film the rest in studio, filmphotograph Charlie Woodburn (34) tells.
While the others in the team turned their back to the journalists before the weekend, Woodburn could confirm that it is the ''plowingedges'' (bad english by me) from Bjorli and Lesjaskog that will be seen through the trainwindows in Scotland, when Harry Potter & Co again is on their way to Hogwarts, in ''Harry Potter and the Halfblood-Prince.
With their own helicopter whipping over the treetops, and from big platforms monterd on vans, have the filmphotographers secured the snow-takes from Lesjabygda. Many have reacted on the lowflying helicopter.
Pleased
On Bjorligard Hotel before the weekend nobody was allowed to say anything. Early in the afternoon all filmequipment was packed. In a haste, the british filmmakers left the touristvillage in which dutyfulfilling people has held the team hidden.
-We waited for two months for snow in Scotland. But it was not winter before we came to Bjorli, Charlie Woodburn tells.
Even though he's only 34 years, he's experienced in the moviebusiness. With the exception of one film, he has been on board for every single of the Harry Potter-productions. His name is strongly connected to movies like ''Black Hawk Down'' and ''Bridget Jones Diary''.
He thinks that the Harry Potter-movie will be finished 'til Christmas.
Charlie has been responsible for all takes from the air. He is especially happy with the filming over Lesjaskogsvatnet (a freshwater) Thursday he filmed a lot from the helicopter on the extension between Bjorli and Åndalsnes.
On Lesja the filmpeople has used a big movingvan with windows like in a traincompartment. When the Harry Potter-movie comes, it's the snow on Bjorli that flashes past.
Gygax, who developed the game in 1974 with Dave Arneson, had been suffering from health problems for several years.
Famous for its mythical creatures and odd-shaped dice, Dungeons and Dragons was an instant success that spawned a slew of video games, books and films.
Gygax was also an author who wrote numerous fantasy books, including the Greyhawk series of adventure novels.
He died on Tuesday at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, leaving a wife and six children.
Ernest Gary Gygax grew up in Chicago, moving to Lake Geneva at the age of eight.
His father, a Swiss immigrant, read fantasy books that got his son hooked on the genre, according to Gygax's widow Gail.
Gygax was working as an insurance underwriter in the 1960s when he began playing war-themed board games.
It was these that inspired him and Arneson to develop Dungeons and Dragons, in which players create fictional characters by rolling dice that determine their skills and abilities.
An estimated 20 million people worldwide have played the game, with more than $1bn (£505m) spent on equipment and books.
"I thought we would sell about 50,000 copies," Gygax told the BBC News website in 2004.
Gygax and Arneson sold their rights to Dungeons and Dragons in the 1990s, when the game's popularity began to wane.
According to his widow, though, he hosted weekly games as recently as January.
"It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman," she said.
SEGA is celebrating five million global sales of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games - we would assume that Nintendo's quite chuffed as well.
Obviously, with the political situation in China being what it is, and athletes being barred from commenting, neither the fat plumber nor the Blue Blur were available to comment.
However, slipped into the Reuters report on the celebrations was an interview with former Electronic Arts marketing legend and current chief executive of Sega Sammy Holdings (America), Simon Jeffrey. Aside from pointing out that, “I don't think we believed in our wildest dreams that it would sell 5 million units in just three months" - which is refreshing, Simon also touched on the new world of consolidation.
With EA bidding for Take-Two, and Vivendi and Activision welcoming the ActiBlizzard marriage, everybody would now appear to be prey or hunter. Not SEGA though, apparently.
“That's not an area we want to play in right now. We have no interest in being acquired, we are very happy with our position right now", said Jeffrey.
As Reuters points out, "Sega ranks as the sixth-biggest game publisher in the United States by revenue, according to market research firm NPD." So, it's intriguing that SEGA should position itself as prey rather than predator in the consolidation killing zone.
We can't say with a straight face that the capital of Azerbaijan is high on our list of places to vacation at, but for Star Wars fanatics, the case could be different. Reportedly, Heerim Architects has dreamt up a couple of "lunar inspired" projects for the central Asian country, one of which (Full Moon Bay) looks an awful lot like the Death Star. Granted, the building looks entirely different from varying angles, but we're choosing to focus on the one that brings back fond memories of light sabers blazing and wookiees waltzing. Truth be told, we've no idea if these facilities will ever break ground, but we're absolutely certain the powers in Dubai are already planning to recreate the entire Star Wars universe if this thing goes forward.
Publisher wants attorney to stay away from any acquisition talks
EA has turned down Jack Thompson's offer of help to "evict the Zelnick Trojan Horse from within Take-Two's corporate walls".
The game publisher responded in an email, claiming that Thompson's past campaigns had ruled any such partnership out.
"In response to your offer to assist in the proposed acquisition of Take-Two, we would strongly prefer that you not get involved in this matter," replied EA's Mariam Sughayer.
"EA is a strong supporter of creative freedom for game developers. We feel that your past statements - including false claims about content in our games - make any collaboration with you impossible."
Attorney Jack Thompson wrote to EA just days ago, exhibiting his deep-rooted adversity towards the Grand Theft Auto publisher as well as the man on top of it, Strauss Zelnick.
"I am delighted to work with Electronic Arts to evict the Zelnick Trojan Horse from within Take-Two's corporate walls," began Thompson's letter, rather presumptuously. "In doing so, I can get the new Take-Two into the clear as to the trouble I and others can send its way.
"Zelnick is the source of trouble headed Take-Two's way, not I. And EA can make the case, with my help, so that such trouble can be avoided."
EA attempted to buy Take-Two for USD 2 billion at the end of February, but the Grand Theft Auto publisher declined, outlining the move as "inadequate" and "opportunistic".
However, Take-Two will be willing to enter discussions following the release of Grand Theft Auto IV on April 29.
This right here is a $100,000 shower. It costs way more than your shower. What do you get for such a ridiculous price? How about 18 showerheads? Judging by the photo, most of them are all around you, but one powerful showerhead looks to be a, well, undercarriage cleaner, just in case you like having a fire hose shot at your taint in the morning. It's all computer controlled and has fancy temperature zones and such, but you know what you're really paying for: the cleanest taint in all the land.
Bill Gates is no longer the world's richest man, according Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the world's wealthiest people.
Gates, who had held the position since 1995, fell to third place on the list, which was released Wednesday.
He was beaten by investment tycoon Warren Buffet and Carlos Slim, a Mexican telecoms expert.
The drop is speculatively due to Microsoft's stock fluctuations this year and his decision to step away from full-time work in order to focus on charity. Not really anything to do with Three Red Lights then.
Still, it doesn't exactly mean he's out on the streets. His personal fortune is estimated to be around $58 billion [£28.89bn], which is approximately fourteen times the amount of money the entire Star Wars saga has grossed since 1977. Not bad at all...
Apparently Meizu wasn't the only manufacturer to get a friendly visit from German police at this week's CeBIT tradeshow in Hanover. The word is that 51 different exhibitors got busted at the show for the patent infringement, with 180 law enforcement officers confiscating 68 moving boxes worth of gear. Primary offenses included Meizu-style MP3 / MP4 infringement, along with unregistered CD, DVD-R and DVD playback devices.
All companies were informed of the rules before the tradeshow, and the warning we spotted at Meizu's booth (pictured above) should've probably served as a pretty good hint to these companies as well. China boasted the most offenders at 24, then it was Taiwan with 12, Germany with 9, and Poland, Netherlands and Korea with one a piece. Everybody else just isn't trying hard enough.
Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which is notoriously difficult to treat.
One of the reasons for the difficulty in treatment is that a sufferer may only experience symptoms very late. It sometimes only diagnosed in the late stages.
As a result, the survival rate is one of the lowest of all cancers and just 4.4 per cent of women and 4.2 per cent of men are still alive five years after the initial diagnosis.
The first signs of the illness vary depending on the size of the tumour and where on the pancreas it is located but often a person may experience pain in their back or lower abdomen.
This many become worse on eating and they may also suffer from nausea, vomiting and weight loss.
As the disease becomes more advanced, a person may get jaundice with their skin and whites of their eyes becoming yellow.
If caught early enough, the tumour can be removed by surgery and a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy can also reduce its size and control the pain for the patient.
Scientists have not yet identified the exact cause of pancreatic cancer but certain factors such as smoking, a fatty diet, increased alcohol consumption and diabetes are known to increase the risk.
Sega is quite content with its position as the sixth-biggest game publisher by revenue in the U.S., and is not at all interested in merging or being acquired by anyone at the moment, according to Simon Jeffrey, chief executive of the U.S. arm of Sega Sammy.
"There is plenty of room for smaller companies to be successful and profitable in this business. You don't have to be number one or number two. You can be number six very happily," said Jeffrey.
He is also understandably thrilled that Mario & Sonic At the Olympic Games sold a combined five million copies on Wii and DS, saying "I don't think we believed in our wildest dreams that it would sell five million units in just three months." To be honest, neither did we.
Konami has booted out the top player in its Play / Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 cash tournament for cheating.
The company didn't specify what the leading player did to earn the red card, but it did confirm that he's now officially out of the running for the £50,000 cash prize.
"Konami Digital Entertainment and Play.com will not tolerate cheating of any kind and reiterates its commitment that only the best players will be eligible to win the competition," the company said in a statement.
"The tournament is being overseen by Konami's respect PES Rankings team, which is charged with dealing with disputes and has ultimate authority. Those caught cheating will be banned from the competition and will face a ban of up to one year from PES Rankings."
The tournament is currently being played online, so its strongly assumed that lag exploits or similar are the reason for the wrist slap.
We could do with that PES rankings team to overlook our Mario Kart bouts.
Pretty interesting read here over at Kotaku about a Severence Package. Basically what it outlines is that Take Two made all their employees sign a contract stating if they were ever bought by EA or any other company, and then fired and mabye layed off, they would be entitled to triple their current salary for 18 months! This only applys to the executive since when this kind of stuff happens their usally the first to go.
For all other employees: They are entitled to receive 6 months pay. If Take Two's plan is to screw EA or any other Rival company that may buy them over, then they should atleast give the none executive employees double the salary for six or so months.
You should know what it is by now, but just for the people that have been in-active...
The Index is a history of DCEmu forums from 2004 to the present, highlighting everything significant that happened each year. It also has a prominent forum posters list, making it the ultimate history guide to DCEmu. Here are the changes:
- Added a title graphic
- Added facts for 2008
- Various little mistakes in grammar and spelling are fixed
- Updated various people's forum activity
EDIT: Fixed some mistakes I failed to catch. The new version is uploaded here.
EDIT2: Added acn10
Download and Give Feedback via Comments
As the ‘will they won’t they’ saga surrounding EA’s proposed takeover of Rockstar-owning Take Two continues, two major Take Two shareholders have cut their stake in the publisher, Reuters reports.
Oppenheimer Funds has cut its stake from 23 per cent, or 8.8 million shares, to just 11.5 per cent, whilst FMR LLC’s stake has been cut from 14.7 per cent to 2.75 per cent.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said of the move: "To the extent there was speculation that shareholders would band together and hold out for more money from EA, that's kind of shot down now.
"They are voting on this deal and they are voting with their feet. They know they have no leverage.”
Need a reminder of the key moments in this saga? Check out MCV’s timeline of events.
Milo from has sent in a report from the Millenium Bridge in London, where crews have been filming this weekend for Half-Blood Prince. Details:
- Filming is for the bridge collapsing scene.
- About 60 crew members and 120 extras.
- Stuntmen will be falling into the river.
- Bridge was being filmed with helicopter, on foot, and mounted camera crane.
- Crews were only allowed to film every half hour to allow public on bridge.
- More location shoots will be taking place in London.
You can see a nice collection of photos right here in our galleries. Milo also tells that she asked a crew member about Deathly Hallows being split in two, to which he smiled and nodded. Expectedly, he also said filming for both parts will occur back to back. Thanks again, Milo!
As we told you yesterday, Emma Watson was nominated for Best Actress, Dan Radcliffe for Best Actor, David Yates for Best Director, Nicholas Hooper (who composed the fifth film's soundtrack) for Best Soundtrack, and OOTP itself for Best Film and Best Sci-fi/Fantasy at the Empire awards.
The ceremony took place last night and congratulations to David Yates who earned the Best Director award for his work on Order of the Phoenix. Check out a video interview with him at the bottom of this page where he concedes being tempted to direct the Deathly Hallows film.
Construction continues to make progress at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios, Florida. The last time we updated you, vertical construction had begun on an unknown area of the park. Just two weeks later, we have, well, more basic construction to show you.
However, progress is progress and we look forward to showing you more exciting pictures in the coming months. We'd also like to point out this article from Jim Hill Media, which comments on the rollercoaster war going on between competing theme parks in Orlando. This includes Univeral's Dueling Dragons ride, which is set to be turned into a TriWizard Tournament-themed coaster.
That's right folks, Episode Two is here! I recorded it using a different program, and a different file type (WMA). I have a good feeling about this since the servers are much better meaning people will actually be able to download it! The voice quality has improved a bit, but I'm still not happy with it.
So download it below and leave your comments about it, Enjoy!
Note: I changed the end of the download link a bit for greater RSS compatibility, so it may take a few minutes before the server will find the file, but once it does get ready to enjoy a great download speed!
Publisher Take-Two revealed sales figures for its intellectual properties last night, following the news that the company had suffered a USD 38 million loss for the first quarter.
The company's biggest franchise – Grand Theft Auto – has sold 66 million units to date, according to chairman Strauss Zelnick.
Executives also said that GTA developer Rockstar Games is working on "at least one major sequel" due for release in 2009, although it did not disclose any more details.
Rockstar's racing franchise Midnight Club has sold 11.5 million units to date, while Manhunt, Bully and Red Dead Revolver have all sold 1.5 million units.
Take-Two's Civilisation has sold 8 million units, Max Payne 7 million, Mafia and BioShock 2 million each and new IP Carnival Games is approaching one million sales, executives said.
Take-Two has been sued by a shareholder alleging that the company's management improperly tried to keep the Electronic Arts buyout offer secret to enrich its executives.
As previously reported, Take-Two's Board made executive appointments on February 15 - also approving a measure that increased the compensation that management would receive in a merger or takeover.
This move came only a few days after the company received a buy-out offer from EA which it rejected in a letter dated February 15.
According to the New York Times, a lawsuit was filed last Friday in Delaware Chancery Court on behalf of Take-Two shareholder Patrick Solomon alleging that the moves - including the "outright rejection of EA's offers and failure to negotiate" - represent a failure to "reasonably respond" and "maximize shareholder value."
The suit names Strauss Zelnick and Benjamin Feder, the partners of ZelnickMedia who took control of Take-Two in 2007.
The suit spotlights the board's decision on February 15 to increase ZelnickMedia's management fees and bonuses to USD 16.5 million, from USD 3.8 million, in the event the company was sold.
Take-Two recently arranged a severance plan for employees who lose their jobs because of a takeover by another firm.
In a statement, the company said: "We believe that the claims lack merit, and intend to defend vigorously against them."
It's official: Eight will be the magic number for the "Harry Potter" film franchise.
After months of rumors, Warner Bros. and the producers of the massively successful movies will announce Thursday that they plan to split "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," J.K. Rowling's seventh and final "Potter" novel, into two blockbuster films -- one to be released in November 2010 and the second in May 2011.
The films will be titled, simply, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II," according to producer David Heyman. Director David Yates, who returned for his second tour of Potter duty with "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and is quite popular with the cast, will direct both "Deathly Hallows" films, which will be filmed concurrently. Screenwriter Steve Kloves also returns and, by completion of the franchise, will have written seven of the eight films.
One devoted "Potter" reader that is especially happy to hear the news is Daniel Radcliffe, the 18-year-old actor who plays the title character in the wizardry epic.
Some cynics will see the move as simply doubling the box-office payday, but Radcliffe told The Times that the split is purely in service of the story.
"I think it's the only way you can do it without cutting out a huge portion of the book," Radcliffe said recently during a break on the set of "Half-Blood Prince," the sixth "Potter" film, which is due in theaters on Nov. 21. "There have been compartmentalized subplots in the other books that have made them easier to cut -- although those cuts were still to the horror of some fans -- but the seventh book doesn't really have any subplots. It's one driving, pounding story from the word go."
Producer David Heyman said the decision was made with some anxiety and only after considerable deliberations. The producer joked that "while my wife and Warner Brothers were pleased" to hear that the Potter movie magic will continue into the next decade, he himself fretted that the cynical observers would see the decision as a purely mercenary move.
"I swear to you it was born out of purely creative reasons," Heyman said during an interview in a converted airplane factory outside London that has been home base to all of the "Potter" productions. "Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book. You can remove scenes of Ron playing quidditch from the fifth book, and you can remove Hermione and S.P.E.W. [Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare] and those subplots . . . but with the seventh, that can't be done."
Heyman said he approached Rowling with some trepidation about the strategy but found that she signed off on its logic rather quickly. "I went to Jo and she was cool with it," Heyman said, "and that was quite a relief."
Rowling has also been a more frequent visitor to the sixth movie's set than with previous installments. One big reason is that she is no longer busy trying to finish the "next" Potter book; she walked away from her signature character in July 2007, when the climactic "Deathly Hallows" hit stores, and continued the history-making ways of the series by selling 11 million copies during its first 24 hours on shelves.
The filming of "Half-Blood Prince" began in September, and Radcliffe said "it's been brilliant." He added: "It's also, I think, the funniest of the films so far."
The "Potter" films have pulled in a staggering $4.5 billion at the box office worldwide. Heyman said now that the "Potter" team knows they can split "Deathly Hollows" in half, the next challenge is figuring out the division.
As Heyman put it: "The question will be, where do you break it? And how do you make them one but two separate and distinct stories? Do you break it with a moment of suspense or one of resolution? These are the interesting challenges. But each book has presented its challenges."
Warner Bros. Chairman Alan Horn and Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, are expected to discuss the new plans for "Potter" on Thursday during a presentation at ShoWest, the convention of movie exhibitors in Las Vegas.
Good news for those of you who plan to make the switch to Blu-ray DVDs: Warner Brothers has announced that several films will be released in a special book-like edition, including Harry Potter. HighDefDigest.com reports:
...the studio will kick off a new line of deluxe next-gen releases geared towards the collector's market. Sure to please film buffs, the slate of ten releases will wrap the high-def picture and sound in a handsomely bound volume containing rare and never-before-seen archival material.
We're not yet sure which Potter films will be re-released, nor what "archival material" they will include. However, we'll keep you updated. Thanks to Matt for the tip!
DCEmu the Homebrew and Gaming Network is now officially 4 years old, it was this time 4 years ago that i stuck online the Dreamcast Site called DCEmu UK, having worked on Boob, DCEmulation, VGN and my own Site at that time DCEvolution i then wanted to start my own Dreamcast News and Downloads site, eventually i was joined by the likes of Soully, Lyonhrt, Metafox, DS69 and the DCEvolution Team.
Martin who hosts the sites for me then said why not bring my other sites over to the server and finally i got all my sites off crappy free servers and into a new home.
Since then i have seen DCEmu grow into a site that covers a mass of homebrew scenes and with the homebrew world gettting bigger all the time with so many consoles running emulators and homebrew its a pleasure to see so many great coders and members/visitors.
Thanks to everyone for making the site what it is today.
Sure, it's fun to say that one billion RFID cards are now at risk due to the Mifare Classic's broken encryption, but it's another thing to comprehend how widespread the fallout could potentially be -- the London Underground's Oyster Card is based on the chip, for example.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg: a new report says that the system can be broken in minutes using a typical PC -- check the video after the break for a demonstration. We've also listed all the other now-potentially-vulnerable Mifare RFID implementations we could find, but there's got to be more -- put 'em in comments!
Cities / countries using the Mifare Classic for access control and / or mass transit ticketing:
Warner Bros. has announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be filmed as a two-part presentation, with part one to be released for the 2010 holiday season and part two to come out in summer 2011. And in an e-mail, Steve Kloves, who's written all the Potter films except Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, says the creative and studio teams are doing it this way for all the right reasons:
"Years ago," he writes, "we briefly — and seriously — considered doing Goblet of Fire as two films. So this concept is not altogether new. As for Deathly Hallows, I intuited — almost from the first moments I began reading it and certainly once I’d finished — that to realize the story in a single film was going to be a tall order. Others in 'the group' felt similarly. So the idea of two films began to get kicked around as early as late summer of 2007. We didn’t take it lightly. But ultimately everyone felt that despite the challenges it would present, it was the most sound creative decision. I’m sure some will think we’re crazy. My wife looked at me cross-eyed when I first mentioned it. But I’m really excited about it because it should allow us to stretch a bit with the characters and give them the proper send-off. The story is highly emotional and those moments deserve time to breathe. And, personally, I feel we owe it to Jo — in order to preserve the integrity of the work — and the fans — for their loyalty all these years — to give them the best and most complete experience possible. I’d love to do it in three parts!"
And for good measure, Kloves adds that working with Order of the Phoenix director David Yates on the currently filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince "was a brilliant experience, so this should be a treat!"
When it was announced earlier this week that the final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was going to become two films, it raised a lot of questions. Did the book really need two films, when all the others have managed with one? Was this an artistic or business decision? How on earth would director David Yates make it through another two without keeling over from exhaustion? How will fans cope with two years without a Potter fix?
In a world exclusive, we put those questions and more to producer David Heyman, who's been with the series since the beginning and will see it all the way through to the end in 2011.
Empire: When was the decision made to split the book into two films?
Heyman: We’ve been talking about it for – actually, right after the writers’ strike was when a definitive decision was made. We’d been talking about it for a while and we’d been mulling it and we thought that was the direction we’d go in after discussing it with Jo (Rowling). But a definitive decision was made once we were able to speak to (screenwriter) Steve Kloves after the strike. But we were angling toward that before the writers’ strike. Initially we thought we’d do it in one film, how we’d done it every time. But then when we began to really analyse it, we realised it was just impossible to fit everything in. Unlike previous films where you could drop certain things, like Hermione and SPEW or Ron’s quidditch, this one you can’t. There’s so much resolution and so much to resolve that you can’t drop it in the same way. Each of those incidences has a place and we didn’t want to compromise.
Did you get as far as trying to put a script together that would get everything in to one film, or did it become obvious in discussions that it would work?
No, it all came down to discussions. We just thought how are we going to approach this? Is this going to be a four and a half hour film? That’s probably what it would have been. Would our audience really embrace that? In some way, I think they might. But I think the younger ones would have drifted. There’s always been difficulty making sure that the ones that are two hours, two and a half hours long – making sure that those are the right length. I think by having two films that are two and a half hours – although we’re not sure of the length – then it will be a richer experience. One of the challenges that faces us, which we’ve been discussing, is how to give each film its own identity. We want them to feel like one film, but they’ve got to be self-contained too. We feel now that we’ve got a really good angle on that. But we haven’t got a script yet on either part, so I don’t want to say too much.
So these films will be the same length as the ones that came before? We won’t see two films that clock in under two hours?
No. The idea is to get everything people want in there. I’m sure there’ll be parts that don’t make it, which we won’t know until the script is written. But that is the idea.
What do you think is the natural separation point in the books? Where can you end the first film in a satisfying way?
It depends what feeling you want [to end on]. I don’t want to answer that just yet because we don’t have the first script. We do have a point roughly where we want to end, but we haven’t got a draft to know if that works yet.
Obviously, there are people who will think that the decision to make two films is driven by a desire to make twice as much money. What do you say to that?
The process went like this: the studio said to us, the filmmakers, “You decide what is best for the story”. Alan Horn (President of Warner Bros) and Jeff Robinov (Warner Bros Head of Production), particularly Alan Horn, are complete Potter fans. He loves the franchise, loves the books, loves the films and appreciates their importance to Warner Bros on many levels. But above all else he is a fan. And he said he did not want to compromise the creative integrity of the films. He wanted to end the series in the right way. He’s been very generous in the resources they’ve given us, but also in the freedom they’ve given us on each of the films. He very clearly said that Steve Kloves, myself, David Yates should make the decision and he would support that.
You mention earlier that you consulted Jo Rowling. What was her input?
We came to her and said that this was what we were thinking. She said, “You know what? I think that’s the right decision and whole-heartedly support you”.
Do you expect to shoot both films together?
It’s one film in two parts and it’ll be shot all as one film.
How long do you expect that to take?
I would think approximately a year’s shooting.
Could that cause any issues with cast, asking them to be available for a whole year?
No. As ever, you have to work around schedules, but the cast will work with us.
This will be David Yates' third, and arguably fourth, film. Did he immediately jump at the chance to take on book seven?
There was not a moment’s hesitation. Actually, I said to him that he should take a moment. He said yes, but I thought he needed to take a moment to think about it and make sure. It’s very flattering and very exciting, but can you push the world, push the characters and make the films that are a development of what you’ve already done? That are pushing the story further. He came back and said, “Please, I would treasure the opportunity and think I could bring this series to the end it deserves”.
Will he get any break between finishing six and starting seven? The poor man must be tired.
No. He’ll get a couple of weeks off at Christmas and somewhere in the shooting of seven we’ll have a break. But otherwise, he'll just soldier through (laughs). He's got so much energy.
The extended shooting time means there’ll be nearly two years between the release of Half-Blood Prince and the first part of Deathly Hallows in 2010. Are there any concerns about that?
Actually, we would have been in a very similar place if we’d done one film, because it would have been four and a half hours long. The shoot would not have been considerably shorter, so it would have been on similar lines.
And when do you expect to start shooting Deathly Hallows?
Early next year. Most of 2009 will be filming. We’ll be anticipating shooting in February. We’re all really excited about the possibilities and the challenges of seven. It’s going to be a cracker.
Have you got anything you’re most looking forward to putting on film? The final battle, maybe?
Well, the final battle, but there’s so much. I love the character stuff. I love the resolution of Dumbledore and Snape. I love the multiple Harries at the beginning. I love the scene of Hermione trapped at the Malfoys’. I love Harry and Hermione in the forest. I think there’s so much, it’s such a rich fabric. What we’ve done now, which I think is really exciting, is that we’ve found thematic centres for each of the films. That gives the film heart. I think it’s pretty great that David Yates has crystalised it and…it’s early days still, so I’m not going to say too much. But I’m just thrilled that David Yates decided to come back, because he’s really found a new spirit for the sixth film and as we talk about seven, it’s very different as well. I think it’s going to be good.
Fans never seem to get their fill of "Star Wars," and George Lucas is happy to oblige.
Star Wars creator George Lucas poses in Las Vegas with a pair of storm troopers from his "Star Wars" films.
Lucas offered a glimpse into the latest creation in his sci-fi universe at the theater-owners convention ShoWest on Thursday, showing a sequence from "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," a computer-animated movie due in theaters August 15. It will be followed by a TV series of the same name, to air on the Cartoon Network and TNT this fall.
The movie came about as an afterthought while Lucas was developing an animated TV show of the same name. That show debuts this fall, but Lucas figured it was ripe for big-screen treatment, too.
"You've got the whole assembly line built, and then you say, 'Hey, we can make up something,"' Lucas said in an interview. "It was like old-time movie making. What I love about television, it's like Monogram Pictures or the old studio system, where a couple guys come to work and they sit and have some coffee and go, 'Why don't we make a movie about such and such? OK, fine.' And at the end of the day, it's pretty much on its way."
Set in the years between episodes II and III -- "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith" -- of the big-screen "Star Wars" chronicle, the movie and series present fresh adventures of Jedi warrior Anakin Skywalker, his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and other colleagues.
The movie introduces a female Jedi, Ahsoki, who is Anakin's young apprentice.
"It's like 'Band of Brothers' in space, with Jedi," Lucas, 63, said. "You can tell lots of stories. They come up all the time."
Lucas said he plans to produce at least 100 hours worth of TV episodes of "Clone Wars."
He also is moving forward with a live-action "Star Wars" TV show focusing largely on new characters removed from the Skywalker family. That show will be set in the decades between "Revenge of the Sith" and the period when the original film, 1977's "Star Wars," takes place.
So can fans ever get enough of "Star Wars"?
"I don't know," Lucas said. "I'm thankful every year that it keeps going."
Chattanooga, Tennessee is the location of one of the most bizarre abodes we have ever seen; the UFO house, which has a single entry point via a button activated stair case, curved bar area and customized bathtub, as well as various UFO paneled controls throughout that are simply priceless, or so you would think.
The house was originally put together in the 1970s, and as such, many of the fittings now have a retro feeling, but that just adds to the charm. The space dwelling is now up for sale, and it is to go under the hammer this very day, which has us counting the Benjamins. Unfortunately, the 2000 sq ft extra terrestrial base station, with three floors, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, living room and scenic view has already attracted a $100,000 bid, which plants it about $99,999 out of our budget. Oh boy, it's back to our slimy, grimy, shoe box of an office until another UFO house comes on the market. We're optimistic.
Oh sure, we've seen alleged criminals wriggle out from under the strong arm of the law, but this one takes things to an entirely different platform.
Reportedly, a truck driver in Germany was pulled over for yapping on his cellphone while cruising, but apparently, said trucker actually wasn't talking when the boys in blue saw his handset upside his melon.
As the story goes, the 43-year old was actually using the freshly recharged mobile to "warm his ear" in an attempt to alleviate an earache. Astonishingly enough, he was even able to provide "an itemized telephone bill proving he had not been using the phone at the time he was stopped," thus, a court in Hamm accepted the excuse and let him go sans penalty. Something tells us this guy's got friends in low places.
Army dudes sat down with scientists at University of Michigan and other schools and asked for a simple frickin' bionic bat with frickin' stereo cameras, miniaturized radar, ultra-sensitive self-guidance, "energy scavenging" recharging capability and a radio to send data back to troops in urban combat zones. Was that too much to ask? Here's how it's working out for them:
The proposal is for the bat to be just six inches in length, weigh only four ounces and use just one watt of power, backed by a lithium-ion battery, which could be charged by not just solar energy, but wind energy and random vibrations as well. The bat's intended goal would be to run surveillance ops and relay data in realtime, including sights and sounds from minicams and mini-microphones, but also radiation and poison gas readings.
The UMich grant consists of $10 million over five years, creating the U-M Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology (dubbed "COM-BAT"—pun intended). The focus is to shrink down many electronics that while currently available would only be good if the US Army wanted, say, a 12-foot spy-bat. Not too stealthy.
For energy recovery, UMich will work to develop "quantum dot solar cells," making current solar cells twice as nice. The bat's autonomous navi system will be 1,000 times smaller than current systems, and that much more energy efficient too. The comms system will be shrunk to one-tenth the current size, too. You can see how all of this shrinkage will have positive impact outside the bionic-bat community as well.
GameStop, which saw record sales in 2007, plans to open an additional 575 - 600 new stores in 2008.
The retailer currently operates 5,264 locations in 16 countries and opened 586 stores last year.
It reported that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Rock Band, Assassin's Creed, Super Mario Galaxy and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock led sales in 2007, which rose 38 per cent.
Despite shortages of the Xbox 360 in January - and continued Nintendo Wii supply constraints - GameStop reported that hardware sales increased 19 per cent.
GameStop reported Q4 net income of USD 189.8 million - up 46 per cent from the prior year.
NPD Group recently released data for the month of February showing software sales of USD 668.7 million - a 47 per cent increase from the prior year.
"These numbers support our thesis that videogaming sales are much more tied to the gaming cycle than the economic one," Citibank's Tony Wible told The Wall Street Journal.
Pandemic's co-founder and president, Josh Resnick, has told GamesIndustry.biz that his company still feels like an independent studio, despite being bought by EA last year along with BioWare.
"Yes," he said. "It says Pandemic on the box, we've got Pandemic email addresses and we're making Pandemic games."
Resnick's words are interesting at a time when speculation is rife about how key development talent at Take-Two, including Sid Meier, Ken Levine and the Houser brothers, would react should EA's prospective takeover be successful.
And he added that he was confident there would be no interference on products from further up the EA food chain.
"John [Riccitiello, Electronic Arts' CEO] has said that in the past interfering with the internal studios hasn't worked for them," he said. "That's not the model that EA is now following.
"The model now is to trust your talent, support your talent, give them what they need to do and let them tap into what EA has to offer, which is the fact that they are the best publishing organisation in the world.
"It just doesn't make logical or business sense for them to change a development studio like that. John and all of the executives at EA have very loudly said that in public. They want to empower their creative talent."
Resnick also told GamesIndustry.biz that he was concerned about the traditional business model for making key game titles, and that he was going to change the way that Pandemic operated as a result.
"Well the good news is that I am going to change our business model," he explained. "In fact we've been changing it for a little while.
"I'm very worried about how much money our games cost to make, I'm worried they take so long to make, I'm worried they have to have so many people working on them to make them and I'm worried the only place we can sell them is in bricks and mortar retail stores.
"A lot of that has to change and we have to find ways to make game development smaller, more flexible, faster out to retail and with more dynamic teams. We're thinking a lot about that right now."
The full interview with Josh Resnick, in which he also talks more about new business models, is available now.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes that US retailer GameStop made a "strategic error" in not acquiring UK chain Gamestation, allowing GAME to do just that, and closing off a growth route for GameStop in the process.
"GameStop always had the capacity to make inroads in Europe, but for some reason, expansion there has been painfully slow," he told videogaming247.
"I think they made a strategic error in not buying Gamestation, allowing GAME to get even bigger and placing them at a competitive disadvantage in the UK.
"The rest of Europe is wide open (Micromania is strong in France), and I expect GameStop to do well on the Continent."
He also stated his belief that despite yesterday's financial results, which showed USD 7.1 billion in sales, the likes of Wal-mart and Target are likely to remain unruffled.
"I don't think GameStop's growth plans in the US are much different than in past years (300 stores), and don't see their 'mom friendly' format sending shivers down Wal-Mart or Target’s spines," said Pachter.
"Moms are not making a separate trip to GameStop if they find what they want during their regular trips to Wal-Mart."
GameStop has announced that it plans to open as many as 600 new stores in the coming financial year.
Next year marks the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower. To celebrate, the French will be adding a gigantic webbed Kevlar observation deck to the top, doubling the size of the deck and making the Eiffel Tower look like some sort of alien space needle.
The addition isn't permanent — don't worry, purists — but will be simply bolted in place and easily removed later. It's pretty amazing looking, a really interesting way of blending the past with the future. I like it. What say you?
wraith808 points out a story about remarks made by the CEO of software and game development company Stardock about sales in the PC game industry. His suggestion to other developers is simple: ignore the software pirates. From Ars Technica:
"'So here is the deal: When you develop for a market, you don't go by the user base. You go by the potential customer base. That's what most software companies do. They base what they want to create on the size of the market they're developing for,' Wardell writes on his blog. 'But not PC game developers.' Don't let people who aren't your audience control the titles you make, and ignore piracy. This is much like Trent Reznor's strategy, although the execution is different. Instead of worrying about pirates, just leave the content out in the open. The market Reznor plays to will still buy the music; he's simply stopped worrying about the pirates. He came to the same conclusion: they weren't customers, they might never be customers, so spending money to try to stop them serves no purpose."
Alright, I get it. Eco-friendly types and people who have small apartments might appreciate a washing machine / toilet hybrid that recycles wasted wash water in the flush tank. It is a good idea, but there is something that is just plain wrong about having your clean clothes so close to the place where you poop—you know what I'm saying? Still, if you are a dude you could entertain yourself by watching the cycle spin while urinating.Nice. It may only be a concept, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this thing popping up in tiny apartments sometime in the near future.
Yesterday we showed you a pictured from Half-Blood Prince that appeared in Nickelodeon Magazine's April 2008 issue. Warner Brothers has now passed along the high-res version of this pic, and you can check it out here!
Alex St. John is co-founder and CEO of WildTangent. Before he founded the company in 1998, he was one of the writers and essential in the creation of Microsoft's DirectX libraries. St. John was also Microsoft's "games evangelist" and pushed the PC and Windows as a key gaming platform.
WildTangent plans to release the Orb, a new PC-based "console," in April, and offer its lineup of indie games plus games from major publishers like Sierra, THQ, and more.
We interviewed Alex St. John to get his take on the future of gaming. St. John believes, among other things, that the console is doomed, and that PC gaming is due for a renaissance.
* ExtremeTech: I understand that at WildTangent, you're working hard on the Orb, which is technically a console for the PC. Now, Epic Games' Tim Sweeney, I'm sure you heard, put forth a very widely posted quote, "PCs are good for anything, just not games." That was taken out of context; he'd been asked about mainstream computers that lack graphics and audio power. How do you react to that quote?
* Alex St. John: I've known Tim Sweeney a long time, and he makes a very important point. To be clear, PCs are fantastic gaming platforms, in spite of Intel and Microsoft. And they should absolutely be pinioned for the stupid stuff they've done to make the PC not as good a gaming platform as it would inherently be without their help screwing it up.
And so the shame of it is, the PC's a fantastic gaming platform, superior to anything anybody's every imagined, superior to every console, and Microsoft and Intel put crap in the PC that make it not so good. And so if you see a PC that is not denuded by things interfering with it by Microsoft and Intel, in many cases like an Intel crappy graphics chip, or a bloated Vista operating system, it's a fantastic gaming platform. And the shame is, if the low end of the PC market, the mass market PCs that everybody buys did not come with these crappy graphics chips on them and was not burdened with a fat OS, that the PC would be a larger contiguous gaming platform than all the next-generation consoles combined, probably would be clearly superior; the PC is the home of the most profitable game in history generating more revenue than the top 10 console games combined--that's World of Warcraft generating a 1.2 billion dollars a year in revenue, that's a pure PC game.
So it is clear that PC gaming absolutely killed [the market] in terms of revenue, killed it in terms of consumer usage--the average console gamer, according to Powers Associates, spends more time playing PC games than console games.
EA's UK head discusses education of consumers ahead of Byron Review
The role of retailers can be crucial in ensuring that the message about age ratings for games is communicated effectively to a wider market.
That's the view of Keith Ramsdale, VP and general manager in the UK and Ireland at Electronic Arts, who spoke to GamesIndustry.biz ahead of Thursday's release of the Byron Review.
When asked how the industry can educate parents more, he said: "I think retail is a very key part of that, because retail can display information at a correct information point, and every retailer now works with a barcode scanner.
"It's very simple to have a system that flashes up an 18-rated game, or a 15-rated game and ask if the consumer is of the compliant age. So I think they can do a lot for us without any great cost, just through in-store practice."
But he doesn't believe that there are any significant problems nowadays with retailers selling inappropriate products to underage customers.
"No, and I think there are three key things that need to happen," he said. "The first is that the publisher needs to be compliant against the classification, so if our content is '18', we put '18' on that box.
"The second part is retailers need to make sure they don't inappropriate games to minors, or indeed point out to a parent that it's '18' - and that it's a content-driven rating, not skill-driven.
"And the final piece is for us to educate the public. Tanya Byron has said publicly that she wants the industry, and that includes retail, to do its part. And then it's about parental control."
Ramsdale also talked up the benefits of the PEGI ratings system over the BBFC, echoing comments made on GamesIndustry.biz previously by Microsoft's Neil Thompson and Matt Lambert.
He is not just a literary character or a booming fashion. Wikén can exclusively attest that he exists here and now, in the Leavesden studios where "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is being filmed. We embarked in this adventure as we entered the sets and then, suddenly, caught a glimpse of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), in a car's back seat. Over there, the cafeteria is crowded by extras, children and adults alike, who impersonate wizards and teachers, queuing with their trays during lunch time. So far, filming has taken three months with three more to go, but everything seems to be going smoothly. This new installment is slated for premiering in Chile on November 21st. "I'll be so sad when this is over," says Harry Potter through the actor who plays him, Daniel Radcliffe, commenting on the moment when they will have to film the seventh and final installment of this saga, slated for next year. "I'll miss playing Harry, but especially the people who work here", he adds.
Against all expectations, the sixth installment of the saga will not be as dark as the previous one. In spite of the tragic end of Harry's mentor, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), the movie actually revolves around the awkward and comical romance between Harry and Ginny Weasley, sister of Harry's best friend Ron (played by Bonnie Wright, who made her debut in the second installment).
Here is what Radcliffe had to say on this topic: "It's a complex story, it isn't a simple romance because Harry is such a close friend of Ron's, and Ginny is his sister, and Harry feels as if he's walking on eggshells". According to director David Yates, "the fifth [film] was pretty intense, but this one has more comedy in it (...) There are many subtleties in the relationship, and a lot of sexual and emotional tension." The movie also promises a lot of action and magic galore, and it will count with at least one scene that is not in the book.
POTTERLAND
Entering Leavesden studios, located 40 km north from London and where more than 1,500 people work every day, is stepping into a new world, where optimism is king. Nothing seems impossible here. In this place, almost everything is created, from animals and monsters that participate in the movie ―while we were there, they were creating a cat, literally, hair by hair― to actors' costumes and sophisticated scenarios. "Wow!" is the only expression that one can possibly utter when the Great Hall comes into view. Going upstairs, visitors can see the beds where Hogwarts students sleep, with small posters and books beside night tables, although all these exquisite details will never be seen in the movie. Filming takes place in a hangar where Roll Royce motors for war aircraft were manufactured during World War II. Close to a main road, green fields surround the hangar and on one side - Oh, surprise! – a row of fake facades stands out, among which Sirius Black's house can be seen. Unlike other studios, here just one movie is filmed: Harry Potter. Therefore, its days are likely numbered. All this coming and going of people stops when a bell is rung. "There we go! Camera, action!" says the director and filming begins.
AN EXTENDED ENDING
Wikén witnessed a scene during a filming day. In it, the new Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Horace Slughorn (played by the British actor Jim Broadbent, known by supporting roles in classic movies such as "Brazil and "Richard the Third"), celebrates a Christmas party in his room for a selected group of students. Slughorn walks from one group to another chatting with his guests, trying to gain his favourite students' favour.
After a second take, the filming team watches the repetition of this scene through some monitors. As the director David Yates leaves the place, he gives some additional instructions. A few meters away, actors and actresses of other scenes wait very focused, seated in white plastic chairs outside the set where scenes are being filmed.
Once again the bell rings, and action continues.
This is how filming is developed every day, with a high degree of patience. This is a seven-year journey which will be extended a little bit, because HP producers decided to split the last book into two installments.
"The only problem is that people could think we want to use this last chance to make more money, but the great advantage to do it so is that we won't be fighting the battle of condensing the whole book in a couple of hours that we have fought so far," comments producer David Barron, and points out that both films will be self-standing entities. And, while producers make their minds up as to the best way to do it, and who will be helming the last chapter of the saga, filming of the sixth movie goes on within Harry's magic world.
Following up on EA's hostile buyout attempt, Take-Two Interactive's Board of Directors today announced that it has "unanimously determined" that EA's $26 per share offer is" inadequate in multiple respects and contrary to the best interests of Take-Two's stockholders." The Board has recommended to shareholders not to tender any shares to EA.
That said, Take-Two has not completely ruled out a deal with EA. The Board said that "it will explore alternatives to maximize value for stockholders, which may include a business combination with third parties or with EA, remaining independent, or other strategic or financial alternatives that could deliver higher stockholder value than the current EA offer."
EA desperately wanted to complete a deal before the highly anticipated release of GTA IV (Take-Two called it "opportunistic"), but Take-Two's Board said that its process "for considering strategic alternatives" and for discussing business combinations with third parties would have to take place after the release of the game (April 29). "The Board continues to believe that the Company will be best positioned, from the perspective of both value and timing, to conduct such a review at that time," Take-Two said. Take-Two once again also indicated that it's received further interest from other parties besides EA but that no "substantive discussions have yet occurred."
"Take-Two's Board of Directors and senior management team were put in place less than one year ago with one mandate: maximize stockholder value. We have maintained a single-minded focus on that goal ever since and it remains the guiding principle in every decision we make with regard to Take-Two. Our Board, after careful review, has unanimously determined that Electronic Arts' offer continues to provide insufficient value and remains opportunistically timed to capture the value of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV launch at the expense of our stockholders," commented Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of the Board of Take-Two.
He continued, "With one of the strongest portfolios of intellectual property in our business, a superb creative and business team, and a revitalization plan that is beginning to deliver results, Take-Two is uniquely positioned to create stockholder value in an industry that is enjoying the highest growth rates of any entertainment medium. We are effectively working toward a process to review all available options to maximize this value, either as an independent company or in combination with a third party, and are open to beginning informal discussions starting now. Our stockholders' interests would hardly be served by accepting an offer from EA at the wrong price and the wrong time. As a result, the Board recommends that stockholders not tender any of their shares to EA."
Take-Two's Board today also adopted a new Stockholders Rights Agreement "to protect stockholders against, among other things, unsolicited attempts to acquire control of the Company at an inadequate price for all stockholders or are otherwise not in the best interests of Take-Two and its stockholders." Take-Two acknowledged that this agreement was adopted in direct response to the EA tender offer.
According to the release: "...the rights will become exercisable if a person becomes an "acquiring person" by acquiring 20% or more of the common stock of Take-Two or if a person commences a tender offer that could result in that person owning 20% or more of the common stock of Take-Two. The Stockholders Rights Agreement will not apply to existing stockholders who own 20% or more of Take-Two's existing common stock, unless and until they acquire an additional 2% of Take-Two's outstanding common stock."
[UPDATE] You can read analyst Michael Pachter's commentary on the rejection by Take-Two and why he thinks Take-Two made a mistake by clicking here.
Atari Inc., a subsidiary of Infogrames, announced that it had received a letter from the NASDAQ listing qualifications department stating that it had not gained compliance with the market's requirements.
Its securities are therefore subject to delisting.
Atari Inc. has been threatened numerous times with delisting by NASDAQ for failing to file annual reports on time and for the declining value of the company.
The most recent deadline for complying with NASDAQ requirements - having the company's value reach or exceed USD 15 million for ten consecutive days - was March 20, 2008. The value of Atari Inc.'s publicly held shares did not reach that level within the allotted time.
Atari Inc. says that it intends to request a hearing before a NASDAQ panel in order to appeal the determination - especially in light of the proposal by Infogrames to acquire all of the remaining outstanding shares of its common stock.
However, Atari Inc. said that there is no assurance that the panel will grant its request for continued listing.
Sega Sammy Holdings Inc., a Japanese operator of amusement centers, canceled a plan to spend 33 billion yen ($330 million) on land to build a game complex in Yokohama after its earnings deteriorated.
Sega Sammy had planned to acquire 41,000 square meters (10 acres) in Yokohama, near Tokyo, for the complex. The company has already spent 22.6 billion yen to buy part of the land. The expected cost for the entire project wasn't disclosed.
The company announced the decision today in a statement filed to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It's now assessing the impact of the cancellation on its earnings for the year ending this month.
Tokyo-based Sega Sammy, which also makes pachinko machines and other game equipment, posted a 15.8 billion yen net loss in the nine months ended Dec. 31, compared with a 49.4 billion yen profit a year earlier. The company last month reversed its forecast for a full-year profit to a 26 billion yen net loss and announced it would cut 400 jobs.
A drunk guy dressed as Darth Vader, wielding a metal crutch, and probably making sounds like *swwoooshh* and *pew*pew*, assaulted and effectively kicked the ass of the founder of the first Jedi Church of England. The dork, a hairdresser called Barney Jones whose Jedi name is Master Hehol, was beaten down in his garden by the anonymous Vader while he was being interviewed for a documentary. Really.
Sideshow Collectibles stopped just short of encasing Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker in fiberglass when they created these life-size C-3PO and R2-D2 collectibles. Due out later this year, the authentic figures are powered by lowly AA batteries and have working lights. They also make sounds from the movies and utter the characters' classic catchphrases, like "beep" and "whistle" and "OVER HERE!" All this can be part of your private Star Wars collection for the galaxy-sized price tags of $5,950 for C-3PO and $5,450 for his smaller, quieter counterpart.
