Emmy
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Television Academy replaces DVDs with Chromecasts for Emmy voting
Emmy voters won't have to worry about keeping up with the remote for their DVD players for much longer. The Television Academy is teaming up with Google to replace the truckload of physical media sent out each year by giving each eligible member a Chromecast. "The initiative represents the latest move by the Academy to evolve and enhance the viewing and voting procedures for the Emmy Awards with state-of-the-art technology and methodology," the press release explains. Opting for streaming rather than mailing out DVDs for the final round of voting isn't only more environmentally friendly, but it'll also open up the voting process. Instead of only being able to make selections in four "blue ribbon panels," members can cast their vote for any of the major programming categories alongside professional categories that align with their experience. As you might expect, the streaming will be handled through from the Television Academy's members-only web and mobile apps.
Twitter adds 'Emmy award winner' to its list of accomplishments
Twitter has just won an Emmy award. Yup, you read that right: the microblogging site has scored itself an atom-toting statuette, though nobody's dressing up in a blue bird costume and walking down the red carpet to accept it (probably). What the company won is a technology and engineering Emmy for -- this is quite a mouthful -- Innovation in Improving Engagement Around Television in Social media. Tech Emmy committee chairman Robert P. Seidel says they're recognizing "companies and individuals whose innovation and vision have materially affected the way the audience views television and have set the standard for technological excellence in the industry."
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn earns Emmy nomination
Halo 4 live-action web-series Forward Unto Dawn is up for an Emmy - no, not a tech Emmy, the real primetime deal. It's going up against the likes of HBO's The Newsroom and CBS' Elementary for this year's Main Title Design honor. The Main Title Design category rewards work that goes into title sequences, so we should doff our cap towards German 3D animator Polynoid, who collaborated with Halo 4 dev 343 industries on the intros for the five Forward Unto Dawn episodes. Machinima and Microsoft first released the series on YouTube last year, leading into the launch of Halo 4, before bringing it to Blu-ray and Netflix. If you've not seen it and you've got 90 or so minutes to spare, we'd say it's worth the watch, and not just for the titles. As for the Emmy, the winner will be revealed at this year's ceremony on September 22.
Apple wins Emmy for technology, engineering
Apple was a prominent part of CES even though it didn't have a physical presence at the trade show. Not only were there a large number of iOS and OS X vendors on the show floor, Apple was also awarded a Technology & Engineering Emmy for its iCloud service. As reported by The Loop, the Emmy recognizes "an individual, company or to a scientific or technical organization for developments and/or standardization involved in engineering technologies which either represent an extensive improvement on existing methods or are so innovative in nature that they materially have affected the transmission, recording or reception of television." Apple won the award for its ""Eco-system for Real Time Presentation of TV Content to Mobile Devices without the use of Specialized Television Hardware." It's not entirely clear what ecosystem the award recognizes, but we presume it has to do with iCloud. The Emmy was awarded at an event at the Bellagio Ballroom in Las Vegas. [Via Macgasm]
Jukebox Heroes: Chance Thomas talks about scoring Turbine's expansions
For many Lord of the Rings Online players, the name Chance Thomas is synonymous with the feel of virtual Middle-earth. From the earliest days in the game, explorers have traversed the Shire, Moria, and beyond listening to Thomas' melodies. So we were excited to hear that Turbine is bringing Thomas back to score not only Riders of Rohan (his first soundtrack for the game since Mines of Moria) but also Dungeons and Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark as well. Thomas is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning composer who's been working primarily in the field of video game music since 1998. Being a huge fan of MMO soundtracks, I made it a personal quest to talk with him about these two new scores and how he feels about working in this genre. In the weeks ahead, I'll be reviewing both Rohan and Underdark's soundtracks, but today I wanted to focus on the man behind the music. Join me, then, as we embark on a voyage to worlds far away, sailing on the wings of a song. Geez, that's cheesy, ain't it?
ATTC, ATSC, other HD makers blessed with Emmy awards
We already caught Panasonic gloating about its H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC-related Emmy earlier this year, but now the full list of award winners are getting their moment in the spotlight. TV Technology is reporting that a number of entities, outfits and agencies responsible for fostering growth in the high-def arena are set to accept Emmy awards on the eve of CES 2009. Some of the big winners are the Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service, Advanced Television Systems Committee, the Advanced Television Test Center and the Advanced Television Evaluation Laboratory, all of which helped in "devising the standardization of the ATSC Digital System." Also of note, the Metropolitan Opera was gifted with an award for its achievement in HD "cinema-casting," and awards are headed to Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, Philips, Molex, Japan Aviation Electronics and Intel (among others) for their work on HDMI. Glasses up to the victors!
Panasonic gloats about Emmy for H.264 / MPEG 4-AVC work
You just have to love it, don't you? In a situation that reminds us all too much of Sony's SIXAXIS Emmy fiasco (minus the fiasco), Panasonic has taken it upon itself to boast (quite heavily) about an Emmy that it's merely connected to. You see, an Emmy Engineering Award will soon be given to the Joint Video Team Standards Committee, of which Panasonic is indeed a member. But still, it's the JVT getting the Emmy here, though Panny's doing an excellent job of taking credit. It's release on the matter proclaims that it had a whole lot to do with the creation and implementation of High Profile for H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC, a technology that enables HD images in the H.264 video coding system. What's next -- Panasonic accepting the award on JVT's behalf?
And the Emmy goes to ... well, Nintendo, of course
Cue the bright lights, red carpet, shrimp cocktail platters and Reggie in a little black dress. Okay, so maybe it didn't actually go down that way, but Nintendo still won an Emmy yesterday for "excellence in engineering creativity" at the Technological & Engineering Emmy Awards. The award was given to Nintendo because of the innovation seen in the company's latest systems, the DS and the Wii. In the case of the DS, it was the handheld's dual-screen display and touch-screen controls that won the hearts of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.While the Academy might have been a little late to recognize this innovation (the DS has been around for three years, after all), it's better late than never. We suppose it could have been worse, considering that Nintendo only won an award for creating the D-pad last year. At any rate, well done Nintendo, and keep that innovation coming.
Wii and DS win Tech Emmys
The tech Emmys were announced this morning, and among the long list of takers is Nintendo's seemingly unstoppable, often unfindable Wii, and the humble DS. The Game Controller Innovation award was given to both consoles, while the Handheld Game Device Display Screen Innovation was shared between the DS and... the Atari Lynx?! Ok, sure, the Lynx is almost twenty years old, but that shouldn't take away from Nintendo's moment of glory (again -- last year Nintendo won for the D-pad). Not heard from this year: Sony. Guess they learned their lesson about the tech Emmys back in 2007.
Nintendo wins another Emmy
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has awarded Nintendo, for the second year in a row, an Emmy® Award for excellence in engineering creativity. With a name that long, it has to be big and important, right? As you might imagine, the Wii was noticed for its motion-sensing controls, which have "attracted a broad range of nontraditional gamers and veteran players alike."Yesterday, the award was presented in Las Vegas, at the annual Technological & Engineering Emmy Awards. The new award, which follows last year's award for Nintendo's invention of the plus-shaped d-pad, brings great joy to the company, as NoA's executive vice president of operations Don James stated "We're grateful for this award and thank the academy for honoring us a second time."Congratulations, Nintendo! You certainly deserve the recognition.
Emmy awards given to Nintendo DS, Wii and ... Atari Lynx?
Last year's inexplicable granting of an Emmy Award to practically every game system ever invented apparently went so well that the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) decided to dip its toes into gaming again this year. Last night's Engineering Emmy Awards ceremony at CES included a bevy of awards for "Engineering & Technology for Creation and Implementation of Video Games and Platforms." Just trips off the tongue, doesn't it?The most notable winner was Nintendo, which got a coveted "game controller innovation" Emmy for its Wii and DS systems (because, really, why narrow it down to one? Since when have awards been about exclusivity?). Nintendo won a similar award for the NES d-pad last year, and used the repeat performance to talk up "even more exciting control innovations from Nintendo in 2008," such as Wii Balance Board and the Wii Wheel, in a press release. Color us skeptical that either of these will have the impact of the d-pad, but still ...The other game-related awards given were notable mainly for their expansive view of video game history. Recent games like Second Life and World of Warcraft shared billing in their wins with classics like Quake and Pinball Construction Set in this year's awards. That's cool and all, but ATAS really showed its old-school gamer cred by giving a "Handheld Game Device Display Screen Innovation" award to the Atari Lynx, of all things. Way to keep up with the times, TV industry. Hey, how about, at our next awards show, we return the favor by giving special awards to All in The Family and "Color TV," the latter for "outstanding use of color in a cathode ray tube device." Wouldn't you all feel special then?We'd also like to call out "The Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Best Use of Commercial Advertising on Stand-Alone Broadband Devices (Personal Computers)," which should win its own award for "most amazingly specific award category in the history of mankind."A complete list of 2007's game-related Emmy's below the break.
HDTV Listings for September 16, 2007
What we're watching: We'll keep an eye on NBC Sunday Night Football to see if we can spot any of Belichick's cameramen prowling the San Diego sideline, but the big show tonight is the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards on Fox. Here's hoping some of our favorite shows get recognized again. Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
South Park wins Emmy for World of Warcraft episode
Last night the South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (less than one hour). If you still haven't seen the episode since we first reported the nomination in July, you can now always rent or buy the 10th season DVD set of South Park which includes the episode.Season 10 also includes the episode where Cartman freezes himself so when he wakes up the Wii will be available -- things go horribly wrong. So go check out the Emmy-winning episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" and the two-parter "Go God Go" for your South Park meets video game entertainment needs.[Via FiringSquad]
South Park DVD on sale for Warcraft players
Blizzard has posted on the front page that they've set up a deal with Comedy Central: whenever you buy the South Park 10th Season DVD on the Comedy Central website, you can use the code "WARCRAFT" to get 15% off and free shipping.Season 10 contains, of course, the Emmy-nominated "Make Love, Not Warcraft" episode, in which half the show had the kids as fat, disgusting slobs, and the other half had them as machinima-created heroes in Azeroth. And apparently the rest of the season is pretty good, too, not to mention that you can get a WoW trial for free with it.So it sounds like a good deal on a good set of DVDs. It's also interesting just how much Blizzard is milking this connnection with the South Park guys (or maybe how much the South Park guys are milking Blizzard). Just imagine all the merchandising and tie-ins when Legendary finally released the World of Warcraft movies. Are we going to find Murloc marshmellows in breakfast cereals? Qiraji Quarter Pounders at McDonalds?
South Park WoW episode nominated for an Emmy
Emmy nominations got released the other day, and there was a familiar face in the Animation category-- the World of Warcraft South Park episode "Make Love, not Warcraft" has been nominated as an Outstanding Animated Program. Strangely enough, while South Park has been nominated six times before, they've only won the category once, and that was for an episode based around a PSP game.Robot Chicken, The Simpsons, Spongebob Squarepants, and the Avatar (which is actually an amazing show-- it was recommended to me by WoW Insider's own Dan O'Halloran) are its competitors this time around, but I'm sure the various WoW mistakes in the episode (Kenny played a Hunter, among other tiny slipups) won't hurt its chances too much.The Emmy Awards will be given away in Los Angeles on September 16th. We'll keep an eye out for a WoW-inspired South Park win.
South Park's World of Warcraft episode gets Emmy nomination
We already know that South Park's homage to World of Warcraft is one of the best episodes ever, but now the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences may agree because the episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" just received an Emmy nomination. But, but, but the episode is inaccurate on various game issues we can hear the WoW fanboys scream already, pointing to things like The Renegade is wearing plate armor and mages clearly can't wear plate. Well, they went ahead and nominated the episode anyway.The WoW episode wasn't even the only gaming related episode from the last television season. We also had Cartman altering the time line so he could get his hands on a Wii, where he eventually ended up in a war between atheists and it was even a two-parter. They didn't give that kind of treatment to the episode where the Xbox 360 showed up -- but we did eventually get a free HD episode out of the deal. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are clearly tapped into the internet generation so we're sure to see more gaming references and episodes in the future like the classic Chinpokomon episode.
Sony Sauce for your PS3 BBQ, sir? Only in Japan!
We all had a good laugh at the meat-lovin' ingenuity of the PS3 grill, but Japan is also well up on Sony-related humor. As a response to Sony's "SIXAXIS Emmy," someone at Rendering Ranger (a weird T-shirt brand in Japan) has decided to poke fun at The Machine by creating a condiment called "Actually, the Sauce is Sony." It seems to be just a repackaged version of Japan's Bull-Dog sauces, but the redesign is inspired. Ken Kutaragi's triumphant visage replaces the Bull-Dog logo; there's an "Emmy winner!" badge next to the accurately caps-locked SIXAXIS title; and there's the (world-)famous Sony grill render down below. The knockout joke is completed by the pricing structure of this Sony Sauce: the 20GB version should sell for ¥499 but has been reduced to ¥399 (though in this case, just for the sake of fun; not because of any lack of demand), while the 60GB tonkatsu model is listed as Open Price but sells for ¥599. "Actually, the Sauce is Sony" is on sale in very limited quantities in Japan's March Rabbit and Don Quijote discount stores.If any Western gamers can concoct a more elaborate and well-planned game industry joke, we'll tell the world all about it. Click through for more saucy pics (hee-hee) from Akiba Blog.
And the Emmy goes to ... everyone, apparently
Representing the absolute pinnacle of foolish snobbery, we here at Joystiq simply insist on exclusively purchasing Emmy award-winning consoles. Unfortunately, this standard has grown considerably lax in the last few days, with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo all being assaulted with pristine statuettes. It seems they're giving those things to anybody these days. Surely it's time for a recap of the Emmy saga?
Sony's not to blame for SIXAXIS/DualShock Emmy nonsense, okay?
While it's so easy to hop on the "hate Sony" train, there's a bit of news about the whole SIXAXIS Emmy mishap you should probably take into account. Namely, Sony is just as confused as its fanbase. If only someone had a recording of the actual award being announced, this could be put to rest. Here's how it went down, hopefully convincing you Sony did not lie. This time, they were misled just as the public was.When Sony was given the Emmy for "technological innovation for device controller", they were slightly befuddled since the SIXAXIS had yet to really show off its mad skills, but accepted the honor anyway. Turns out the award was for the Dual Shock, the previous incarnation of the Sony controller. Keep in mind that, either way, they got an Emmy. Nintendo also won the same award for its D-Pad, which is more than understandable.SCEA public relations head David Karraker, upon being asked about the mishap, recounted the award that he personally accepted: "I accepted the award myself and all they said was that the award was for 'technological innovation for device controller' ... but looking back, they never really did say for which one." Heck, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences even approved of Sony's initial public statement which mentioned the SIXAXIS five times, including this title: "Sony Computer Entertainment America Wins Emmy Award for PLAYSTATION 3 SIXAXIS Wireless Controller." So, who's at fault? Quite clearly, it's NATAS. Not Sony -- they were confused too. Let's give them some ice cream and put this behind us.
And the Emmy goes to ... Microsoft!
With the fictional Emmy awards out of the way, Microsoft today announced that it has won an Emmy for, ahem, "Pioneering Work in Near and Real-Time Fully Programmable Shading Via Modern Graphics Processors." It's got to be hard to write that all on one envelope. A simpler way of saying it: DirectX got an Emmy. The official Emmy release doesn't really give any more details, but it's good news for Microsoft nonetheless. Of course, it should be noted that the 360 can't run the latest and greatest DirectX (that would be DirectX 10). Microsoft also won an Emmy last year for Xbox Live. One more year and they'll have a streak. Other notable winners include Nintendo, Sony, and id Software (along with John Carmack). Hit the "read" link for a PDF of all the winners.
