Video Games
Sega has launched at casual gaming portal online, called PlaySega. It features card, puzzle and sports titles, as well as Sonic games. It's ironic, in a way, that large segments of the industry are now being driven by games aimed at non-gamers (one word: Nintendo). RealNetworks, previously known as pioneers of online audio/video, are also getting serious about this segment (which may be a way to turn around flagging fortunes, since the company just announced 130 layoffs). So while it's nice to create the next Grand Theft Auto, the real route to making your fortune may just be to create the next Tetris.
The troubled Midway has admitted it is in danger of defaulting on $240 million in debt. The company has hired investment adviser Lazard Ltd. to try to figure out their next move. Meanwhile, game industry analyst Michael Patcher says the company is not necessarily in immediate danger of vaporizing, but if they don't make money fast, they'll be in even worse trouble. Earlier this week, majority stockholder Sumner Redstone sold out to Mark Thomas for $100,000. It's sad to see the company, known for arcade classics like Mortal Kombat, take this route - hopefully, they will be able to find a place for themselves in the new gaming climate like fellow old-timers Activision and Atari and get back on their feet. (Darwinism definitely applies to the game industry: adapt or die).
Namco Bandai has introduced a new label called Surge, aimed at the North American audience. Its first game will be Afro Samurai. The company said that Surge will also encompass a new internal development studio, which may be Namco's existing internal United States development group. This may be very good news for gaming industry types if NB is truly serious about major U.S.-based expansion.
Square Enix and Warner Brothers are said to be both interested in acquiring Eidos, publishers of Tomb Raider. The Lara Croft franchise would definitely beef up the Western presence of the Final Fantasy company - this saga is worth keeping an eye on.
Technology
GoFish, a media-based advertising network targeted at kids and teens, has received a whopping $22 million in funding. The three backers may also kick in an additional $2.5 million. To see that size dollar amount in this economy tells you what enormous confidence people are placing in online advertising these days – this is definitely the field of the future.
In a possible sequel to the Microsoft-Yahoo failed takeover drama, Microsoft has hired a former Yahoo executive to head up its new Online Services Group, covering search and online advertising. These are the two fields where Microsoft is looking to compete with Google (and why they wanted Yahoo in the first place). Stay tuned as the soap opera unfolds . . .
Publishing
More layoffs at print publications, this time covering the entertainment industry. Variety has closed its Washington, DC bureau and the Hollywood Reporter has laid off 17 people. There's also been speculation that both publications are going to eliminate their weekend print editions – which then raises further questions over whether they're going to follow the trend of taking more of their news online.
ContentNext research director Lauren Rich Fine offers an interesting option for newspapers facing elimination - go nonprofit. Anything that can save people's jobs, no matter how unorthodox, is worth trying, and Fine's solution actually sounds workable for some publications.
Another sign that print is increasingly being replaced by pixels: A new romance novel line, Ravenous Romance, is E-book only. We anticipate a lot more genre publishers will be going this route – we may get to a point where traditional print will be a "boutique" item, much like hardcovers are today, reserved for only the most highly-anticipated mainstream books.
- Bonnie