Tag Archives: gamasutra

Interview: Tancharoen On Mortal Kombat’s Sudden Screen Rebirth

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[Gamasutra’s editor at large Chris Morris talks to director Kevin Tancharoen on how the genuinely accidental YouTube release of his short spec film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth led to a gig with Warner Bros. making live-action episodes ahead of the new Mortal Kombat game.]

When the live action short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth hit YouTube in March 2010, people started buzzing. The film, starring Michael Jai White and Jeri Ryan, was not only cool to watch, it was reverential towards the classic Midway-originated fighting game series.

Director Kevin Tancharoen had hoped to use it to lobby Warner Bros. to sign him on to steer a reimagined MK film. While he didn’t quite make it to that level, the company has contracted him to direct a series of live-action shorts that will likely lead up to the release of the new Mortal Kombat game in April. Ironically, though, it all started with a mistake.

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Interview: Playcast Raises Additional $10 Million For Cloud Gaming

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With $10 million in new venture capital, Playcast tells Gamasutra editor-at -large Chris Morris how it’ll compete with cloud gaming services like OnLive indirectly, by providing a standardized service that can be integrated into any number of set-top boxes.

Playcast may not be the most familiar name in the video game world, but it’s one that’s certainly turning the heads of venture capitalists.

The cloud gaming company has raised $10 million in a Series B funding round to help it expand its ongoing rollout of services to telecommunications companies and cable television providers. The company previously raised $2 million in funding in 2009.

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Confident Fils-Aime Touts Nintendo 3DS Mass Market Appeal

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Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime touted the 3DS as more than just a 3D gaming device, adding that it’s “mass market ready, right off the bat,” Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris reported from New York.

The morning started a bit awkwardly for Reggie Fils-Aime,  but by the end of his presentation,  announcing the launch details of the Nintendo  3DS at a Gamasutra-attended press conference in New York,  he was firmly in charge.

Walking out to a dead teleprompter,  the normally unflappable president and chief operating officer jokingly accused Wedbush game analyst Michael Pachter of having unplugged the monitors.

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Interview: Kongregate CEO Jim Greer On The Move Into Android

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Kongregate is launching its ‘Kongregate Arcade’ app for Android devices. Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris talks to CEO and co-founder Jim Greer about discovering opportunity on that platform.

With its presence already well-established in the Web space, Kongregate is branching out into the world of mobile. The Gamestop-owned game portal on Tuesday announced the launch of the ‘Kongregate Arcade’ app for Android devices.

With an initial library of 300 games, the app represents one of the biggest collection of games on the platform. And Jim Greer, CEO and co-founder of the company, says Kongregate plans to build that number rapidly – conservatively estimating the company will add “dozens” of games per month (versus the 1,500 or so that the desktop client sees in the same amount of time).

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Opinion: Nintendo ‘Future-Proofing’ The 3DS With Media Capabilities?

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[In a Friday opinion piece, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris looks at Satoru Iwata’s musings on possible video recording for Nintendo’s 3DS to look at the stealth non-gaming elements of the 3DS and how they might truly ‘future-proof’ the handheld.]

While it has had to endure its fair share of navel gazing and questions from the media over the 3DS — including from me — Nintendo is starting to show once again why it’s always foolish to bet against the company.

There’s no doubt the 3DS will be a hot seller when it hits shelves. Most new game technologies from major players in the industry usually are. The question that has always loomed over the 3DS’s head, though, was is it enough to lure people who are spending more and more time with their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

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Analysis: Behind The ESA’s New E3 Media Rules

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[Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris examines recent changes to E3 2011’s media registration policy, intended to “prevent some of the problems we’ve had with fake badges,” according to a rep with event co-organizer ESA.]

Getting into E3 in Los Angeles in June is going to be a different experience for journalists this year.

For the first time, the Entertainment Software Association, which organizes the convention, has decided not to pre-mail badges to media attendees.

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Analysis: How Gaming Seeps Into CES 2011

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[Reporting from Las Vegas’ CES, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris looks at video games’ presence at the major electronics show, examining how the show hints at the blossoming of a post-console future for games.]

For a trade show that’s not about video games, there sure are a lot of people talking about and playing them here at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show.

OnLive, Kinect and Playstation are being discussed nearly as much as tablets, 3D TVs and cameras. It’s some of the clearest proof yet showing that as video games evolve and grow, the industry is moving closer and closer to the world of mainstream entertainment.

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Opinion: Why So Much Mass Media Hysteria Over 3DS Vision Warnings?

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[In this opinion piece, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris looks at the reports about the ‘dangers’ of the Nintendo 3DS for the young that surfaced over the holidays, and why lack of context and media sensationalism is rife in reporting this particular story.]

I’ve been a member of the so-called mass media for over 20 years. I logged over nine of those with CNN; have worked for Forbes; and spent more than half a dozen years in Atlanta radio, reporting on subjects including the 1996 Olympics and the ramifications of disastrous plane crashes.

I am, in short, a proud member of the Fourth Estate. But sometimes, the idiocy and sensationalism of certain members of my chosen profession drives me up a wall.

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Gamasutra’s Best Of 2010: Top 5 Unexpected Gaming Events

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[In a light-hearted post-Christmas countdown, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris examines the unexpected moments of 2010 in gaming, from Justice Kagan on Mortal Kombat to Panasonic’s Jungle.]

Talk about a topsy-turvy year. The video game industry has weathered its share of good and bad in 2010, but what made things really interesting were the completely unexpected moments – things we could never have predicted, no matter how many clues we were given.

From THQ’s decision to launch an experimental pricing strategythat could lob $20 off the price of games if it’s successful, to the return of a circus-like E3 environment (topped by Activision’s Lollapalooza-like concert), there were plenty of shocking moments in 2010.

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The Year In Review: Game Biz Analysts On The Worst Happenings Of 2010

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Having picked the brains of Wall Street analysts on the best things to happen in the video game industry in 2010, there was no way we were going to let them go without talking about the worst as well.

This year, after all, might end in positive territory when all is said and done, but it’s going to be tough to look at it as a winner from several perspectives. Retail sales continue to spiral and developer-publisher relations took another blow to the chin. Meanwhile, stock prices of publicly traded game companies continued to lag.

Here’s what the analysts thought went wrong in 2010.

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