Games Industry Wire

The had been grumblings of an upcoming “big” Halo announcement and it came just after midnight this morning when Bungie announced that Halo 3 multiplayer beta would be going live on May 16th at midnight pacific and run until June 6th at midnight. Here’s part of the announcement:
The Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta will go live on May 16th at 12:00 AM PDT and run through June 6 th at 11:59 PM PDT. That means that folks who purchased specially marked copies of Crackdown, or won a spot in the Beta through the “Rule of Three” or other regional promotions, will …read more

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Nintendo has announced that they will continue their relationship with IGN company GameSpy to take the Wii online. Nintendo currently uses the service for the popular Nintendo DS handheld. GameSpy’s technology will enable such features as ranking, friends, and matchmaking in finding opponents or teamates. Here’s the complete press release on the partnership:
NINTENDO’S Wii TO LEVERAGE MULTIPLAYER TECHNOLOGY FROM IGN ENTERTAINMENT’S GAMESPY
Leader in Multiplayer Technology Enables Exclusive Community Functionality for Nintendo’s Hit Console
Los Angeles, CA- March 13, 2007 – GameSpy, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, announced today …read more

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John Riccitello will be rejoining EA as CEO on April 2nd according to published reports. Riccitello is a former COO and President of the massive organization (at least when it comes to gaming organizations).
With the company since the early 1990s, he left the company in 2004 to form Elevation Partners, a private equity firm who invests in media and entertainment companies. Other members of the firm include the former CFO of Apple Computer and U2 lead singer Bono. The company made headlines in 2005 when they bought and merged BioWare and Pandemic Studios. Wikipedia has more on the group.
Technorati Tags: …read more

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Joystiq is reporting that the craze game known as Guitar Hero will be debuting on the Wii platform most likely in early 2008. The announcement however, left open the possibility that the super popular game way move to the portable Nintendo DS. This move would be logical for both Activision, the company behind Guitar Hero, and Nintendo. Not only would it axpand Guitar Hero to another platform which most often means extra profits but it may influece some avid fans of the console based games to give the DS a try.
Here is an except from the statement:
“…In fiscal 2008, we …read more

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IGN was purchased for a great deal of money last year by Fox Interactive Media, and their Direct 2 Drive area is already beginning to show promise. Recent partnerships with Starz, Lionsgate, Manga, Central Park Media and 20th Century Fox (NewsCorp) hint at a large future.
The site doesn’t promote just any show for download to WMV-capable devices. Men-focused shows only need apply.
– Movies run $7.99-19.99 while TV shows are the ubiquitous $1.99 a pop with season prices varying. TV offerings are limited for now to a grab bag of Fox series including 24, Prison Break, Bones.
Variety (which had …read more

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Jay Filmer, former Deputy Editor of the XBox 360 Gamer magazine, has been promoted to Online Editor of the 360-Gamer site. Filmer is virtually responsible for the database that powers the whole 360-Gamer shebang. Congrats to Jay Filmer as he moves up the Games Industry ladder.
Ian Collen, a new hire, replaces Filmer as Deputy Editor at the magazine.

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This past week has seen two video game companies get VC funding. One has already generated millions of dollars of revenue with an ARG, another is as much social as it is ‘gaming’.
1. Bunchball – A social gaming site, Bunchball is viral gaming. As you can embed a YouTube video or a Slideshare slideshow, Bunchball is a way to embed any number of flash games on your own site. This round, their first after a small angel round, amounted to $2M. Bunchball plans to allow for future advertising before and after the games, and is …read more

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GamesPolitics.com, a blog on, you guessed it, politics as it relates to the gaming industry, was purchased by the Entertainment Consumers Association.
In fact, ECA announced two important developments today:
First being that the ECA has acquired GamePolitics, a critically acclaimed clearinghouse for politically-oriented news and opinions about video games, and secondly being a partnership with NCsoft on the PlaySmart Information Program, a first of its kind public service program geared toward educating consumers on Internet safety and protocol.
The ECA is an advocacy group for gamers. If you are interested in joining the ECA, the price is $19.99 per …read more

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Well, to be exact it’s really a wholly owned subsidiary of NCSoft to the tune of 100M Yen. They’ll join subsidiary offices in US and Europe, and joint ventures in Japan, China, Taiwan, and Thailand.
NCsoft penetrated into Japanese market in 2001 by establishing a joint venture, and now is servicing both Lineage and Lineage II. Guild Wars is lined up for a commercialized service starting from January 27th. During the third quarter of 2005, NCsoft hit the record of 7.6 billion Korean Won in revenue with 3.7 billion in operating profit in Japan due to the consistent demands generated from …read more

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Official Xbox Magazine Names Francesca Reyes As Editor-In-Chief
Reyes is now the ONLY woman to hold the top spot at a gaming magazine. And, OXM is just any gaming mag, it boasts the highest circulation rate of any officially-licensed magazine in the United States. I’m a long-time subscriber and it’s a fabulous magazine.
Reyes has been with Future, the parent company, for ten years, starting as a staff writer. She was instumental in the launch of their Dreamcast mag and Official XBox Magazine, has written for many of their other titles, and has served as the Executive Editor of …read more

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