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SikeTV "VGAs" Celebrate Videogames

LOS ANGELES--The stars came out Friday night to celebrate the videogame industry. Local game companies Epic Games and Red Storm Entertainment were a big part of the show. Epic won four VGAs (Video Game Awards), including Studio of the Year for its best-selling "Gears of War" game. The new franchise, which has already topped sales of over 1 million units, also took home Best Shooter, Best Multiplayer and Best Graphics awards.

Red Storm Entertainment debuted the first trailer for the upcoming next generation title, "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2." That game, due out in 2007, is currently in development in Raleigh. The original is one of the best-selling Xbox 360 games of the year.

Hollywood stars, ranging from show host Samuel L. Jackson to Brandon Routh to Eva Mendes were all on hand to honor the people who make their favorite videogames. Jack Black performed with Tenacious D and AFI also sang. Sarah Silverman did a videogame comedy stand-up act and a host of athletes, actors and musicians were on hand to present awards to the people who make the games.

You can watch all the action starting Wednesday at 10 p.m. on SpikeTV. The show will be re-run throughout the week, and there's also a lot of content online at GameTrailers.com and SpikeTV.com.

Videogames Support Children's Hospitals

With Christmas just around the corner, the videogame industry is working with Children's Hospitals around the world to donate games to kids who are sick in bed. There's not yet a North Carolina hospital on board, but new hospitals are welcome to join in by contacting ChildsPlayCharity.org. With the number of local game companies in the area, it shouldn't be hard to equip a children's hospital in the area with games.

More than $495,000 worth of toys, games and books on the wish lists of more than 35 participating children’s hospitals have already been purchased as part of the gamer supported charity, Child’s Play. This week, the Child’s Play charity auction dinner in Seattle, Washington on December 13 is expected to enable the purchase of more games for sick children as attendees bid on rare and hard to get items including a new Nintendo Wii game system autographed by the company’s President and COO, Reggie Fils-Aime, a speaking line in the "Halo 3" videogame under development by Bungie Entertainment, a Sony PlayStation 3 and an appearance in a Penny Arcade comic strip. Anyone can go online and donate money to this very good cause.

The charity work is the result of Penny Arcade, best known for its videogame comic strip, as well as its annual videogame show in Seattle. The group has reached out to hospitals across the world, including Children's Hospital of New Orleans, Methodist Children's Hospital of South Texas, Tulane Hospital for Children, Carilion Hospital for Children, Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital, BC Children's Hospital, Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center, Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Children's Hospital of Boston and Children's Hospital of Michigan as well as Mater Health and Sydney Randwick Children's Hospital in Australia.

Child’s Play is a non-profit organization begun in 2003 by Gabe and Tycho, the creators of the Penny Arcade comic strip, as a way to help sick children and show the world the softer side of people who play videogames. Through the generosity of gamers and the videogame industry, Child’s Play has raised over 1.5 million dollars in toys, games and cash for sick children through an ongoing online toy drive and annual charity auction. Now in its fourth year, Child’s Play is developing a worldwide network of beneficiary Children’s Hospitals in order to brighten hospital stays for children internationally.

The organization is also looking for volunteers and reporters from high schools and colleges to get involved with local hospitals to reach new kids, as well as gain support for new gamers to donate time, games or money for this cause. In a day and age when the mainstream media only focuses on negative games stories, this is a great cause.

Sony Introduces Digitally Distributed PlayStation Games

Sony's PlayStation Network, which connects PlayStation 3 and PSP gamers to digitally distributed content, now has downloadable PlayStation games. Sony's introduced five classic games, including "Snow Boarders," "Crash Bandicoot," "Hot Shots Golf 2," "Syphon Filter," and "Tekken 2," which cost $5.99 each to purchase.

Once bought, these games can be downloaded to a PSP wirelessly or through a USB cable and played on-the-go. New classic games will be updated on a regular basis, including a second batch of games heading to PlayStation Network later this month. This is just the beginning for those gamers who have or buy both a PS3 and a PSP. A new upgrade allows gamers with Wi-Fi homes to watch PS3 content through their PSP anywhere in the house. Next year, this feature will be upgraded to any hotspot anywhere in the world. That means if you have content on your PS3 hard drive, you can watch it or listen to it remotely anywhere there's a Wi-Fi hot spot.

Sony's also following Microsoft's lead with the PlayStation Store. This online store, like Xbox Live Marketplace, allows gamers to download free movie trailers and game demos. Over time, original games for PS3 will be sold here, as well as movies, TV shows and music. Microsoft already is selling TV shows and renting movies via Xbox Live Marketplace. Nintendo also has a rich offering of classic games for Wii. Gamers can buy an assortment of classic Nintendo, Sega and Turbo Grafx16 games through the Wii Shop and play them with the new Wii classic controller. All three systems support Wi-Fi and broadband connectivity, which opens up the gaming console to new digital distribution possibilities.

CBS Jumps On Pro Gaming Bandwagon

CBS is the first major network to jump on the professional videogame phenomenon that's been quietly sweeping the nation. After networks like MTV, GamePlay HD, G4, HD Net, SpikeTV and USA Networks (through an ad buy with Major League Gaming) have all been airing or greenlighting programming around pro gamers; CBS will air a full one-hour special on the World Series of Video Games (WSVG) on December 30 at 3 p.m. The special will explore the lives of pro gamers--young college-aged kids who win hundreds of thousands of dollars by playing PC and console videogames at tournaments around the world.

CBS already has delved into pro gaming through "60 Minutes" with two segments featuring Johnathan "FATAL1TY" Wendel, who's considered the best PC pro gamer in the world today. He even signed on as a consultant for that show. Now the network is going to test the waters even more with a full hour of pro gaming. If that show gets decent ratings, don't be surprised if CBS Sports gets interested in e-sports. After all, most of the young audience today aren't watching network TV shows when they air. Most TiVo what they want to watch and game during prime time hours. Pro gaming is one way to try to lure these viewers back. Gamers are the key demographic for advertisers today, which is why in-game ad deals are through the roof.

The WSVG will also be seen on GamePlay HD in high definition, as well as CBS-owned College Sports Television (CSTV). These two networks will broadcast about 19 hours of pro gaming drama. The Finals are being held in New York City this month. They'll be taped and rolled into multiple segments for these two networks.

Burger King Partners with Konami's "Dance Dance Revolution"

Burger King continues to target gamers with its fast food. The Home of the Whopper is currently selling a trio of $5 Xbox 360 games starring the King. The fast food giant, which has so far avoided the type of negative publicity that rival McDonald's has received with "Super Size Me" and "Fast Food Nation"--despite the fact that Burger King is the home to some of the most fattening sandwiches; is teaming up with Konami Digital Entertainmentto promote "healthy" living with the "Dance Dance Revolution" videogame franchise.

Rather than offering some type of game demo, something that now has a precedent with the original Xbox 360 games, Burger King is supposedly promoting healthy living by giving away one of eight "Dance Dance Revolution" toys in their Kids Meals from December 4 through 31. Although the Kids Meals offer low fat milk and apple sauce as choices, the odds are most kids aren't going to a fast food restaurant for these products.

The irony in this deal is one of those things that makes you read the press release twice. The reason America is the fattest nation and that many kids are overweight and obese is because of fast food and videogames. Konami's hit game franchise, along with Nintendo's new Wii, are the exception to the rule in the videogame world; because they encourage kids to get off the couch and interact with the on-screen characters. That's why the "Dance Dance Revolution" game is being used by school's across the country to help kids exercise. The game's even in the 24 Hour Fitness gym chain.

What could have been a win-win for kids--giving everyone a free demo of the game on PlayStation 2 or Xbox--now seems like a wasted effort. Giving away free toys does not promote healthy eating--at least not any more than fast food in the guise of a healthy Kids Meal. I'm all for Konami's "Dance Dance Revolution" franchise, I just think this could have been a great promotion for healthy kids, rather than just making a fast buck.

GamePlay HD Bring Pro Gaming to the Web

Pro gaming continues to grow as an industry in the U.S., which is behind the times when it comes to professional gamers battling it out for hundreds of thousands of dollas. Eruopean countries and Korea have elevated pro gamers to sports athlete status.

Voom HD Networks' GamePlay HD, the high-definition game channel available on the DISH Network, is bringing the World Series of Videogames to anyone with a computer starting today. Gamers who haven't yet made the leap to HD TV can view full episodes of pro gaming shows in HD online. New episodes will be posted every Friday.

In December, the GamePlay HD Web site will feature the network's coverage of the World Series of Video Games presented by Intel. Episodes posted online will focus on three of the tournaments - LANWAR: Quake 4 in Kentucky, DREAMHACK: CounterStrike, the world's largest LAN party hosted in Sweden, and the heated tournament battles of the Intel Summer Championship waged in Dallas, Texas.

Aimed at the 76 million gamers in the U.S., GamePlay HD is now the only 24/7 high-definition video-game network. G4, which never focused on HD programming, but launched as a game network, has changed its focus away from games this year. GamePlay HD covers the top game tournaments from around the world, and produces a slate of original programs that provide entertainment, news, reviews and previews for all kinds of gamers.

You can also catch pro gaming coverage on MTV's Web site.

"Dungeon Siege" Movie Shows Promise

"In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale," the $60 million fantasy movie based on Gas Powered Games' PC game franchise, "Dungeon Siege," is finished. Director Uwe Boll, who has focused on turning videogames into movies--many of which were pretty bad--finally has made a decent film. I was able to screen a rough cut of the theatrical film, which clocks in just north of two hours, in Vancouver, British Columbia this week. I was on the set of the film twice last year to interview the cast, which includes Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Leelee Sobieski, Ron Pearlman, Claire Forlani, Matthew Lillard, Burt Reynolds and John Rhys-Davies. So it was interesting to see the near-final product.

There are several factors that separate "Dungeon Siege" from debacles like "House of the Dead" and "Alone in the Dark." For one, Boll brought in acclaimed action director and choreographer Tony Ching ("House of Flying Dagger," "Hero") to helm the film's many action sequences. That's worked wonders in the film, which has several massive battles between the Krugs (the human-like monsters from the game) and the King's armies. These battles, which occur in the woods and feature tree fights as well as in the rain at night, have a big budget feel. In fact, the entire movie looks like a $100 million production. The special effects are all top notch. The only thing in the movie that lacks a "Lord of the Rings" feel are the krugs, which at times look like stuntmen in rubber suits rather than monsters.

The other thing that's in Boll's favor are the actors. In the past, Boll has directed actors like Steohen Dorff, Tara Reid and Michelle Rodriguez. This time around, Boll brought in a truly great cast of actors and it shows on screen. While not everyone is on top of their game, John Rhys-Davies, Jason Statham, Ron Pearlman and Leelee Sobieski all deliver solid performances. Ray Liotta is fun to watch as the film's villain, although the actor doesn't need to worry about any new Oscar nods. With so many characters to follow, the story could have been bogged down with boring dialogue--something Boll has not done well in past films--but the pace of this movie moves briskly and there's enough action throughout to keep everything moving forward at a solid pace. This is the first film that Boll has made that I can honestly recommend to people. It's not the best movie ever made, but it is the best movie Boll has ever done. He's certainly come a long way over the years, and faced off against (and even boxed against) very harsh critics.

"Dungeon Siege" has screened at the American Film Institute and several critics have praised the film. Boll has sold the movie to 20th Century Fox for a German release in summer 2007. The movie is expected to open in North America at some point next year, but Boll is still negotiating with movie studios.