Tag Archives: technotainment

Atari unveils Neverwinter – an updated Neverwinter Nights

Posted on by

“Neverwinter Nights,” one of the most storied role-playing game franchises, is getting an update. Atari today announced “Neverwinter,” a new title utilizing the Dungeon and Dragons license, will hit shelves late next year. 

Last June, Variety was first to break the news that Atari was relaunching the series. Sources, at the time, told us Atari’s Cryptic Studios would revived the game as a massively multiplayer online title, with an eyed 2011 release. Today’s announcement stops short of calling it an MMO, but does refer to the game as a “new online role-playing game”.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Filming underway on Will Wright’s TV pilot

Posted on by

Will Wright conquered the video game world with titles such as “Sim City” and “The Sims”. Now he’s looking to take on television. 

Wright, who left Electronic Arts last year to dedicate his attentions to his Stupid Fun Club, has begun shooting a pilot episode for a new program for Current TV. The details haven’t been released, but there’s ample speculation this could be “The Creation Project,” which relies on user-created stories from episode to episode.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Nikon ups the stakes in the DSLR battle

Posted on by

We’ve written previously here at Variety about the growing importance of digital SLR cameras to Hollywood. Indie filmmakers use them to shoot on a budget and bigger budget content producers use ’em to help cut costs (like “Saturday Night Live,” which shoots its opening credits with a DSLR). 

Now Nikon is adding some new features to better compete with Canon, which has had the lead among film makers for a while.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Verizon, the iPad and Google

Posted on by

Verizon has big plans for the tablet marketplace – maybe bigger than they’re willing to talk about right now.

The telecom giant held a press conference Wednesday showing off an app that would stream live television and on-demand programming to the iPad for FiOS customers. The application, which also allows customers to see which shows are most popular with viewers in real-time, is expected to be available next year.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Microsoft reintroduces the world to Milo

Posted on by

When Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 motion sensor controller that’s now known as Kinect, the demo that had everyone talking was Peter Molyneux’s “Milo”. Shown in a video (and, later, via a select number of live demonstrations), the onscreen 11-year old boy interacted and chatted with a human player and showed remarkable artificial intelligence.

Milo’s been silent since then, but Molyneux brought him back out recently at the TED conference. A video of his presentation at that event has just been released and it’s worth 10 minutes of your time.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Microsoft ties Windows Phone 7 to Xbox Live

Posted on by

As Microsoft has leaked out details of its upcoming Windows Phone 7 series, it has been pretty obviouthat the company planned to borrow heavily from its successful Xbox Live formula. Now it’s sharing more details – and it’s looking a lot more like a semi-complete integration of the service, rather than just a few elements.

The new phones will launch with Xbox Live integration, letting owners stay connected with their gaming friends when they’re away from their consoles. They’ll also be able to access leaderboards, turn-based multiplayer games, Achievements and more.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Panasonic ups its bet in 3D

Posted on by

Panasonic has been one of the biggest (and loudest) supporters of the 3D TV market. Now it’s ratcheting things up a bit more. 

The company has introduced another pair of 3D sets – the first by Panny to offer 2D to 3D conversion, which substantially increases the library of content. (It also brings the company in parallel with Sony and Samsung, which offer the technology.)

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

3D TV: The latest from Japan

Posted on by

When it comes to electronics, as Japan goes, so goes the rest of the world. 

Well, sometimes, at least.

The Nikkei, Japan’s largest business paper, took a look at the state of 3D TV in that country – and the information it gathered could be indicative of trends that are on the way to other territories.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

July game sales disappoint – kind of

Posted on by

Those hoping the video game industry could turn around its fortunes in July got their wishes – sort of. Sales of video game software were down 8 percent last month to $403.3 million. The industry as a whole was off 1 percent to $846.5 million. 

Those numbers, however, did not include sales of “Starcraft II,” which was a PC-exclusive title. (NPD’s monthly numbers only track console sales.) Combined sales of PC and console games were actually up 4 percent over the 2009 numbers.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Irrational Games takes Bioshock to the clouds

Posted on by

After three years of silence, Irrational Games, the studio behind “Bioshock” has taken the wraps off of its next game. The studio today unveiled “Bioshock Infinite,” a new installment in the franchise that upends many gamer perceptions about the franchise.

The original title, which sold over 4 million units worldwide, was set in Rapture, an crumbling aquatic world. “Bioshock Infinite” is set above the clouds in Columbia, a floating city that mixes the “Star Wars’” cloud planet of Bespin with a steam punk sensibility. The game is set for a 2012 release and will be released on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Read more (and see the trailer) at Variety’s Technotainment blog