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Game Developer Midway Raising $82 Million Through Stock Sale

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2004 - 5:32am.
Chicago -- Video game developer Midway Games announced on Tuesday plans to raise $82.3 million through a private placement of 11.3 million shares of its stock. The Chicago-based company said it will use the $78.4 million of net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, financing capital expenditures, research and development, marketing and distribution efforts, and acquisitions or strategic alliances. Midway's recent titles include "NBA Ballers" and "The Suffering."
tags: Midway | Deal | Game Developer | Stock Sale |

Calif. State Bills Limiting Violent Game Sales Defeated in Assembly

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2004 - 5:26am.
Los Angeles -- Two California state bills that would have imposed regulations on the sales of violent video games to minors have been defeated in California's state Assembly, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Assemblyman Leland Yee, who sponsored the bills, told Reuters they will be voted on once again during the Assembly's next meeting, and if defeated at that time he plans reintroduce them in 2005. The bills would have changed the definition of violence in video games to include additional titles, and compelled retailers to stock "Mature"-rated games apart from other titles. Groups including the Entertainment Software Association and Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association deemed the proposed legislation unnecessary and imposing on free speech rights.
tags: Games | Calif | State Bills | Assembly |

Nokia Introduces Second-Generation N-Gage Mobile Phone Game Deck

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2004 - 5:24am.
Helsinki, Finland -- Cell phone maker Nokia on Wednesday introduced the second-generation edition of its N-Gage hybrid cell phone/handheld video game device, which addresses multiple design and functionality issues that resulted in poor sales of the original model. The new, smaller N-Gage QD features a microphone and speaker on the face of the device, rather than on the side, which made using the current version of the device as a phone quite awkward. The new model also makes swapping out game cartridges easier, without the need to remove the device's battery in the process. "We've gotten a lot of learning with the N-Gage over the last few months," Nada Vsina, general manager of entertainment media for Nokia's American division, told CNET News.com. "We took that feedback from consumers and really worked to address those concerns." Nokia plans to show the N-Gage QD at next month's Electronic Entertainment Expo, with launch plans for Europe, Asia and Africa in May and for the U.S. in late June, with an expected price tag of $199.
tags: Nokia | N-Gage | Mobile Phone | Second-Generation | Game Deck |

CEO of Game Publisher Take-Two Interactive Resigns

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2004 - 5:23am.
New York -- Take-Two Interactive, a publisher of video games including the popular "Grand Theft Auto" franchise, announced on Wednesday the immediate departure of its CEO and director Jeffrey C. Lapin. The company said that Richard Roedel, who became company chairman on March 16, will become CEO on an interim basis, and named Paul Eibeler as president and Gary Lewis as chief operating officer. New York-based Take-Two also revised its quarterly sales and earnings projections downward, citing delayed launches of its "Red Dead Revolver" and "The Warriors" titles and weaker than expected sales of catalog titles.
tags: Take-Two | CEO | Game Publisher |

Nokia, Hewlett-Packard Partner on "Virtual Radio" Cell Phone Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2004 - 5:21am.
Helsinki, Finland -- Cell phone maker Nokia announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Hewlett-Packard to provide support for its "Virtual Radio" service, which allows users to listen to FM radio and retrieve corresponding artist information and make purchases with their cell phones. Under the agreement, Nokia will develop the Virtual Radio service while HP will market and sell the solution to mobile operators and FM radio stations worldwide, as well as provide installation, consulting and integration support. In addition to music stations, the service will allow data transmissions to accompany weather, traffic, talk radio and sports broadcasts.
tags: Nokia | Cell Phone | Hewlett-Packard | Virtual Radio |

Report: 23% of U.S. Households Own Portable Digital Music Players

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2004 - 5:19am.
Scottsdale, Ariz. -- Shipments of portable digital music players, such as Apple's iPod, reached 24 million units in 2003, representing sales of over $3 billion and growth rate of over 200% over the previous year, according to a report from Arizona-based market research firm In In-Stat/MDR. Currently, an estimated 23% of all U.S. households own a portable digital music player. The firm expects worldwide portable digital music player unit shipments to see a 16% compound annual growth rate for the period 2003-2008, with hard drive-based player shipments growing 100% and flash memory-based devices seeing decreased growth rates in 2004. "Online subscription music services have finally begun to attract significant traffic to their sites by offering portability and pricing models that are more attractive to consumers. However, while this is a step in the right direction, these services will still need to re-work their business models in order to attract consumers from peer-to-peer sites," said In-Stat/MDR analyst Cindy McCurley. In-Stat predicts that online music revenues -- from both sales of physical media and downloads -- will grow about 28% this year over 2003 totals.
tags: Raise | U.S. | Digital Music Players | Households |

President of Vivendi Universal Games Resigns

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2004 - 5:17am.
Los Angeles -- Vivendi Universal Games, the video game publishing unit of the Franco-American media conglomerate, announced on Wednesday that its North American president and chief operating officer Luc Vanhal has resigned from the company, effective immediately. VU Games, whose development and publishing units include Blizzard Entertainment, Sierra Entertainment, Massive Entertainment and Fox Interactive, said that company CEO Bruce Hack will assume Vanhal's responsibilities in the interim until a replacement is named.
tags: Vivendi | President | Universal Games |

Report: Streaming Audio, Video Delivery Nearly Doubles in Q1 2004

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2004 - 5:15am.
Monterey, Calif. -- The amount of streaming audio and video content delivered on the Internet in the first quarter of 2004 is up 118% and 80%, respectively, over the figures reported during the same period last year, according to data from Monterey, Calif.-based AccuStream iMedia Research. The number of aggregate tuning hours for Internet radio is up 118% in 2004, while streaming video grew by 80% over first quarter 2003 levels. The top ten sites served an average of 523 million video streams in January and February, compared with 292 million in 2003. For Internet radio, tuning hours on the top ten sites in January and February averaged 137.5 million, compared to 63 million in 2003. AccuStream noted that streaming media destinations are publishing more ad-supported content in 2004, coinciding with a recovering ad market and move by some major rights holders to move assets out from behind subscription services.
tags: Video | Deal | Streaming Audio |

Social Networking Site MySpace Signs Reality TV Development Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 14, 2004 - 5:10am.

Los Angeles -- Pipeline Entertainment, producer of reality TV shows including "Blind Date" and "Classmates," announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with social networking site MySpace.com for the rights to create both reality-based and dramatic television formats based on the experiences of MySpace.com users. Los Angeles-based Pipeline did not announce a production schedule or affiliate partners for its project. A website called MySpaceTV will be created to link viewers of the TV show to the online network, where they may participate in challenges and affect the outcome of the stories on the show. "MySpace.com has all the right elements for successful television, including enormous reach, audience connectivity, an influential community and measurable traffic and impressions. But most important, it is a vast source of fascinating real-life experiences that make truly compelling storytelling," said Pipeline Entertainment president Matthew D. Papish.
http://www.myspace.com
tags: VC | Social Networking | TV | MySpace | Deal |