Sony Looks to Move PlayStation Titles to Tablets, Mobile Devices...

The company wants to expand its portable gaming presence, thus far limited to two tablets and a mobile phone.

Sony Corp. is in talks with various manufacturers of mobile phones and tablet computers in an effort to bring video game titles from its PlayStation over to more portable devises.
The Wall Street Journal reports Sony revealed ambitions for widening its video game market during All Things Digital's Asia D conference in Hong Kong Friday.

This would involve the expansion of tie-in application PlayStation Suite, which is currently only available on two Sony-made tablets and a mobile phone, and more partnering on its Sony Ericsson joint venture.

"This isn't an ecosystem where we want to keep everything within the Sony family," said Sony executive deputy president Kazuo Hirai. "This is not just for Sony devices."

Hirai wouldn't comment on what companies Sony had approached about carrying PlayStation Suite, but the application currently runs on Google's Android platform and individual devices would need to meet certain hardware specifications set by the company.

He would not comment on reports that Sony is in advanced talks to buy out its partner, Ericsson.

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Gamescom Video Convention Breaks Attendance Record...

The European gaming confab drew 275,000 which represented an 8 percent increase in visitors over last year's event.

COLOGNE, Germany -- Europe's number one video gaming confab, Gamescom, hit a new attendance record this year, with 275,000 visitors making the trip to Cologne to check out the latest titles and trends in the gaming industry.

The figure represents an 8 percent jump on attendance in 2010 but remains just slightly behind Korea's G-Star convention, which last year drew 280,000 fans. With 550 companies represented, however, the Gamescom defended its title as the gaming world's largest industry event.

The surge in fan numbers temporarily overwhelmed Gamescom organizers, who closed the entrance to the event for a short time on Saturday as the crowd threatened to turn into a crushing mass. If Gamescom is to build on the momentum it has shown in its third year in Cologne, the confab will have to find a way to better accommodate its swelling fan base.
The 2012 Gamescom runs Aug. 15 -19, 2012.

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Supreme Court Strikes Down California Law Banning Violent Video Games To Minors.

In a long-awaited decision today, the U.S. Supreme Court sent a clear message to state governments looking to regulate the sale of violent video games to minors: Treat video games like movies, books, music, and any other artistic medium.

The Supreme Court struck down California's law banning the rental or sale of violent video games to children under the age of 18 by a decisive 7-2 margin.

In doing so, the court's justices emphasized in its decision the primacy of the First Amendment and that "basic principals of free speech" shouldn't be restricted without a "compelling government interest."

In defending the law, the government tried to point to psychological studies purporting to show a connection between exposure to violent video games and the harmful effects on children, but the Supreme Court found the evidence to be inconclusive, and that any demonstrated effects were "small and indistinguishable from effects produced by other media."

As a result, the Supreme Court ruled that standards applied to other media should also be applicable in this situation:
"Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas-and even social messages-through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player's interaction with the virtual world). That suffices to confer First Amendment protection. Under our Constitution, "esthetic and moral judgments about art and literature . . . are for the individual to make, not for the Government to decree, even with the mandate or approval of a majority."

The decision is a victory for the video game industry in its many years of efforts to be treated equally to other entertainment businesses.

"We are gratified that our position that the law violates the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of expression has been vindicated and there now can be no argument whether video games are entitled to the same protection as books, movies, music, and other expressive entertainment," said Bo Andersen, President & CEO, Entertainment Merchants Association
The Supreme Court decision is also a triumph for entertainers at large.

In the decision, the Supreme Court notes that California attempted to craft an entirely new category of unprotected speech -- content aimed at children. The justices reject this idea and say that lawmakers must only regulate speech using the same kinds of content-neutral regulation standards used in the past.

"The motion picture industry is no stranger to governments' incursion on freedom of expression," said Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America. "From the very inception of the movie industry, attempts to restrict speech have threatened the creativity of American movie-makers. We applaud the Supreme Court for recognizing the far-reaching First-Amendment implications posed by the California law."

The decision wasn't unanimous. Justices Thomas and Breyer dissented. In their view, "the practices and beliefs of the founding generation establish that 'the freedom of speech,' as originally understood, does not include a right to speak to minors (or a right of minors to access speech) without going through the minors' parents or guardians."

Some groups which have supported laws like California's statute pledged to continue working on the issue despite the Supreme Court ruling to ensure minors are adequately protected.
"Today's decision is a disappointing one for parents, educators, and all who care about kids," says Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer. "But the fight is far from over. Advocates for kids and families can work within the scope of this ruling to protect the best interests of kids...We respectfully disagree with the Court when it comes to their analysis of the First Amendment rights of children and families -- this is a sanity issue, not a censorship issue. If parents decide a violent game is okay for their kid, that's one thing, but millions of kids are not able to judge the impact of ultra-violence on their own"

Other groups said the decision would have a negative impact.
"This ruling replaces the authority of parents with the economic interests of the video game industry," said Parents Television Council president Tim Winter. "With no fear of any consequence for violating the video game industry's own age restriction guidelines, retailers can now openly, brazenly sell games with unspeakable violence and adult content even to the youngest of children."

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ony Online Entertainment Slashes Hundreds of Jobs, Shutters Three Studio...

As part of the restructuring, the game publisher cancels the release of the long-in-development action espionage massively multiplayer online game "The Agency."
Sony Online Entertainment has closed three of its game studios and laid off 205 workers as part of a massive restructuring. The game publisher has also canceled the release of the long-in-development action espionage massively multiplayer online game, The Agency.
"As part of this restructuring, SOE is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties, while also maintaining its current portfolio of online games," the company said. "All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern."
SOE has shuttered its studios in Denver, Tucson and Seattle, where The Agency was in development. Acquired in 2006, the Denver studio had been focusing on digital card games based on SOE properties like Free Realms, Star Wars Galaxies, Legends of Norrath and Star Wars: The Clone Wars Adventures. The Tucson studio was overseeing the online strategy game, PoxNora.
SOE still has its Austin studio, which is home to DC Universe Online and Star Wars Galaxies, and its headquarters in San Diego, where games like EverQuest, PlanetSide, Vanguard and Free Realms are run. Both studios were also impacted by the layoffs with as many as half of each studio's staff let go.
"SOE will transition development efforts for the Denver and Tucson studios' suite of products to its San Diego headquarters in order to better position SOE to remain a global leader in online gaming and deliver on its promise of creating entertaining games for players of all ages and servicing the 20 million players that visited SOE servers in just the past year," the company said.
After rising to prominence in 1999 with its subscription-based EverQuest MMO game, SOE in recent years has expanded beyond its core fantasy role-playing games. Over the past few years, the company has targeted families and younger gamers with free-to-play titles like Free Realms, which has more than 17 million registered users. Last fall, SOE released its second Star Wars game, Star Wars: The Clone Wars Adventures. Based on the popular Cartoon Network series from George Lucas,the free-to-play game world offered accessible mini-games and social networking experiences.
The company released the mainstream-focused, subscription-based DC Universe Online MMO game for PC and PlayStation 3 earlier this year. Jim Lee, co-publisher of DC Comics, served as executive creative director of the game, which features classic superheroes like Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman.

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Industry News: Android, Video Games Dominate Mobile World Congress...

BARCELONA, Spain – Mobile World Congress 2011 served as the official coming out party for the next generation of Google Android smartphones and tablets as 60,000 professionals from 200 countries gathered in Barcelona. Android had a massive, two-floor booth at the annual convention that was packed with all of the new smartphones and tablets shipping in the coming months running off the various Android platforms, including Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play phone, which operates on Gingerbread, and LG's Optimus Pad tablet, which is powered by Honeycomb.
The Android booth featured a huge arcade section where developers from around the world showcased the next generation of mobile games. While graphics and gameplay have improved in the mobile space over the years, the new wave of smartphones and tablets will push the capabilities of these devices to the level of PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 – and beyond even the best iPhone 4 and iPad games that are
currently on the market.
"Video games drive the mobile business because they're the best showcase of what these new devices can really do," said Gonzague de Vallois, senior vice president of publishing at Gameloft, one of the largest mobile game companies in the world. "Our experience in the console market is helping us deliver quality titles to these new devices for the mobile market."
Gameloft, which previously supported Apple's launch of iPhone and iPad with games, had franchises like Asphalt 6, Let's Golf and NOVA running in autostereoscopic (glasses free) 3D at LG's booth on the new Optimus 3D phone. The company also will support the March launch of Xperia Play with 10 titles, including Star Battalion. And the publisher has recently started developing new games to run on NVIDIA's Tegra 2 dual-core technology.
Tegra 2 brings PC gaming graphics and speed from just a few years ago to the mobile space on new Android smartphones and tablets, which will run 10x faster than the processors in today's smartphones like iPhone 4. The Tegra 2's dedicated graphics processor also delivers 1080p HDTV playback of movies, TV shows and games. On battery life, Tegra's ultra low-power design delivers over 16 hours of HD video or 140 hours of music on a single charge.
"This technology will impact the games we release because it will absolutely increase the available market," said Mike Breslin, vice president of marketing, Glu Mobile. "There will be a lot more people with access to these new smartphones and tablets thanks to the marketing push from Google, NVIDIA and all of the consumer electronics companies, carriers and headset makers."
Last fall, Android overtook Symbian to become the top smartphone platform in the world. According to research firm Canalys, global sales of Android phones in the fourth quarter of 2010 was 33.3 million, compared to 31 million Symbian phones, 16.2 million Apple phones, 14.6 million RIM devices and 3.1 million Microsoft phones.
Overall, the global smartphone market grew 89% compared to the fourth quarter of 2009, exceeding 100 million units for the first time. And 2011 is poised to be an even bigger breakthrough year for Android.
Another new trend showcased at Mobile World Congress was cross-platform gaming on Android and Tegra devices, which will allow players to team up in games like Trendy Entertainment's Dungeon Defenders: First Strike to play across PlayStation 3, PC and mobile platforms.
"This is a really profound change in the way mobile games are designed," said Jeremy Stieglitz, development director at Trendy Entertainment. "There will be a huge influx of quality content very quickly on these new Tegra-based platforms, where you basically can have the same game running on a mobile device as you have on a PC or console."
NVIDIA showcased brand new Tegra 3 technology at the show, code-named Kal-El after Superman. New phones will ship with this quad-core chip beginning this August and tablets will follow in late fall. NVIDIA demonstrated a game, Great Battles Medieval, that ran at 720p HD and featured 650 enemy soldiers on the field at once.
According to Michael Rayfield, general manager of NVIDIA's mobile business unit, over the next three years projects codenamed Wayne, Logan, and Stark will further push the gaming potential of mobile devices. By 2014, when Stark becomes a reality, the technology will feature a 75x improvement over the performance of today's Tegra 2.
"Our customers and partners have already indicated that they're confident they can use everything we give them," said Rayfield.
HTC introduced a new tablet, Flyer, which will introduce streaming subscription video game service OnLive to the mobile space. Gamers will be able to play games like Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, NBA 2K11 and LEGO Harry Potter on the new tablet, or connect the tablet to any HDTV, without needing to buy any new hardware or software.
There is a negative side to the increased capabilities of mobile gaming. And that's for portable gaming companies like Sony, which will launch its Next Generation PlayStation (NGP) system this fall.
"IHS believes that the market opportunity for a specialist device such as the NGP is shrinking rather than growing, and that short- and medium-term market conditions are less supportive of the release of a high-end handheld console," said Piers Harding-Rolls, video game analyst at HIS Screen Digest.
Harding-Rolls said by the end of the fourth year after its release, the NGP is expected to accrue a total installed base of 22.8 million units. In comparison, the PSP achieved a base of 30.7 million, 34.8% higher, during the same length of time.
"The competitive landscape for handheld and on-the-move gaming has been highly disrupted in recent times, with disruption occurring on the device, content and distribution levels," added Harding-Rolls.
Moving forward, more consumers will use one device for everything, including gaming, multimedia, entertainment and Web browsing. And Android is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this shift.

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Job: Executive Assistant for CEO of major video game publisher.

Seeking experienced Executive Assistant for CEO of major Los Angeles
based video game publisher.

Duties will include:

Phones/rolling calls
Schedule and arrange meetings/calls
File/maintain documents
Handle travel arrangements
Assist in professional and personal tasks
Prepare documents for meetings/pitches
Manage/update task list
Liaison with all departments within the company (Act as an office manager)
Coordinate schedules

Qualifications:
1+ years as an executive assistant is a plus (Agency experience is a plus)
Excellent communication skills (Both written and verbal)
Exceptionally organized
Must be computer savvy (PC and Mac knowledge is a plus)
Skilled in the Microsoft Office programs (Powerpoint and Outlook)
Detail oriented
Follows through on all projects
Highly motivated self-starter with the ability to prioritize/handle
multiple tasks with flexibility in a fast-paced work environment

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Industry News: Hollywood Docket: How Many Video Game Lawyers Are There in the U.S.?

January 18, 2011

The courts might be closed for the MLK holiday but there's plenty of law buzz this morning:

•The FCC is planning to consider retransmission fees, a subject that has led to several blackouts in recent years amid negotiation impasses between broadcasters and cable and satellite companies. Regulatory review comes just as Time Warner settles with Sinclair Broadcasting over the latest dispute. [NYT]
•Universal and Sony Music plan to release songs on the day they hit radio airwaves in an effort to combat piracy. Songs used to be released to radio up to six weeks before release to build buzz. [Guardian]
•More claims have been dropped from Nicollette Sheridan's lawsuit against Marc Cherry and Touchstone Television Productions. She's dismissed her discrimination claims, but is still pressing on that she was wrongfully terminated. [TMZ]
•A federal judge in Florida has dismissed a lawsuit against Nielsen Co. for allegedly abusing its monopoly power over television ratings when it installed its new local people meter audience measurement system. [B&C]
•Can a phone camera turn you into a pirate? [NYT]
•There are exactly 530 lawyers who specialize in video game law, according to a study by Interactive Age. The publication ranks the top 30 firms, led by Perkins Coie. [Game Politics]

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