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You can finally watch Microsoft's 'E.T.' documentary on Xbox
What a long, strange trip it's been. Microsoft's effort to document the excavation of all those fabled E.T. The Extraterrestrial game cartridges from a New Mexico landfill -- and Atari's downfall -- is finally watchable on Xbox Video. As Variety reports, you can check out Atari: Game Over on your Xbox One, Xbox 360 or even on the web and see where those carts came from before they hit eBay. Perhaps most notable is that it's one of Xbox Entertainment Studios' scant few projects to actually see the light of day, getting a release a few months removed from Redmond shuttering its original-TV-programming experiment. So there's that, too. Need a refresher on Atari's Spielberg-infused saga before turning on your flatscreen? We've got you covered. [Image credit: John Thien for Engadget]
Microsoft closing Xbox Entertainment Studios
As part of its massive round of layoffs, Microsoft is closing Xbox Entertainment Studios (XES), the wing dedicated to producing original video content for the Xbox platform. All is not lost however, as Halo: Nightfall, the Spielberg-produced Halo TV series and Signal to Noise (whose first episode chronicles Atari's rise and fall) will all still continue as planned. We were also told that the studio's Nancy Tellem along with Jordan Levin and "some" of the XES team will remain on staff and working on the aforementioned in-production programming. In an email today (pasted in full after the break) Xbox head Phil Spencer notes that change is never easy, but he believes the studio closure will help the company "better align with longterm goals." We've reached out to the affected studios about what this means for them and will update this post should we hear back.
Upcoming Xbox history show will let you 'play TV'
Microsoft has been teasing a level of interactivity within its slate of original Xbox video programming, but what kind of control will you actually get? The company isn't revealing everything right now, but it just gave Deadline Hollywood a few small clues. TV producer Stephen David is creating a documentary/drama hybrid for Xbox Entertainment Studios that he says will be "like playing television." In the inaugural 13 Days of Blood episode, which shows Roman history through the eyes of emperor Commodus (seen in marble here), there will be "new, interactive technology" that should "bring fight scenes to life," according to Microsoft.
Xbox Entertainment Studios has at least 12 projects in production, committed to half
There's a lot to know about Microsoft's push into original programming with Xbox Entertainment Studios. Why now? Why carry Xbox branding? Will XES content only run in certain regions? Is it free to all Xbox Live members, or only Xbox Live Gold? Will XES content also head to other digital video services, like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant and elsewhere? What about other Microsoft platforms, like Windows Phone and Windows 8? How will interactivity with the content work? Much of that information is still up in the air, according to XES president Nancy Tellem (former president of CBS Television Studios, among other accolades) and executive producer Jordan Levin. The duo walked us through Xbox Entertainment Studios' first projects last week, and left us with more questions than answers. Here's the high level: There are at least 12 projects in the works, and Microsoft's only "committed" to half (full list below the break). That means that six are paid for and in production, while the other six are in various stages of creation and may never make it to our eyeballs. The first, a multi-camera, multi-stage, interactive version of Bonnaroo, premieres this June.
Microsoft's E.T. game excavation hits paydirt
It looks like the legend might be true after all. Microsoft has uncovered intact copies of E.T. for the Atari 2600 at a New Mexico landfill, supporting claims that Atari buried legions of unsold cartridges in the desert after the movie-themed game proved to be a massive failure. With that said, it's not yet clear that this is the treasure trove that Microsoft was hoping to find for its first Xbox-only documentary. The excavation team has only found a few E.T. units as of this writing, and they have company -- there's a shrink-wrapped copy of Centipede in the mix, for one thing. If the team does find many more examples of the extra-terrestrial flop, though, it could finally put a 32-year-old mystery to rest. [Image credit: Lauren Hansard, Twitter]
Microsoft cleared to exhume E.T. from landfill for original documentary (update: now with a start date!)
Microsoft's been given the go-ahead to dig through a New Mexico landfill in the hunt for dumped copies of Atari 2600 title E.T., local media reports. Not without aim, of course, but so Xbox Entertainment Studios can collect crucial material for its first original documentary, which'll look into the alleged mass burial of unsold copies of the game. Released in late 1982 when the video game industry, including Atari, was struggling, E.T. was universally panned and a commercial flop. With millions of cartridges returned by retailers, gaming lore has it that Atari quietly shipped off this useless inventory, among other unwanted paraphernalia, to a landfill site. Opinions are mixed and evidence inconclusive as to whether this actually took place, though, hence a documentary to get to the bottom of it. As much as we'd almost prefer the mystery to remain one, let's hope Microsoft come across something or there mightn't be a documentary at all. Update: Phys.org reports that the excavation's start date is set for April 26 of this year. That's soon!
Xbox One is getting a biographical show about Nas, of course
Naturally -- between a Halo project involving Steven Spielberg, a documentary on the terrible E.T. video game for Atari 2600 and a series on street soccer -- the next project from Xbox Entertainment Studios is a show based on hip-hop artist Nas' youth. Deadline reports that "a half-hour series project loosely based on his life as a hip-hop artist in the 1990s" is on the way, titled "Street Dreams." Presumably it heavily features him having dreams of being a gangster, drinking Moet and holding Tecs, making sure the cash came correct? Kind of! It's said to dig into his past growing up in the Queensbridge Projects, and Nas himself is signed on to handle music and assist with writing (the formal writing and directing duty is handled by fellow New Yorker Jonathan Levine). It's unclear when this project is planned for, nor do we have much insight into the grander plans of Nancy Tellem and co. at Xbox Entertainment Studios. The ol' cable box plugged into the Xbox One will have to suffice for now. (Photo by Omar Vega/Invision for Hennessy/AP Images)
Microsoft's first Xbox-exclusive documentary is digging up Atari's past
Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studios will launch its first original documentary production next year, a film exploring the rise and fall of game industry legacy Atari. You read that right: a modern game console manufacturer is creating a documentary about a failed game console manufacturer. A bit meta if you ask us! Anyway, the documentary will focus on digging up the symbolic grave of the early game industry: a burial site with "millions of unsold game cartridges" in New Mexico. The game in question was the Atari 2600 adaptation of E.T., a holiday 1982 release -- often called one of the worst games ever made. A new production studio co-founded by Simon and Jonathan Chinn (Man on Wire, FX's 30 Days), named Lightbox, is heading up production; filming is slated to start in early 2014, with an exclusive debut on both Xbox 360 and Xbox One at some point later in the year. It's unlikely that the Atari doc will be the first product from Xbox Entertainment Studios to launch in 2014, as shows are scheduled to roll out starting in early 2014.
Report: Microsoft to boost Xbox TV lineup with street soccer series
After snagging CBS exec Nancy Tellem and launching a Halo-based TV series with Steven Spielberg, Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studios appears to be tackling a whole new genre. According to Deadline Hollywood, the fledgling TV division will launch its first reality-TV series for Xbox Live based on street soccer called Every Street United. Eight 30-minute episodes will be produced featuring undiscovered talent playing four-on-four soccer across eight different countries. The idea is to have the top eight compete in a climactic final match during the World Cup, though final details are still up in the air. The show will reportedly target Xbox's sports-crazy demographic, though the choice seems a bold move for Microsoft -- which is clearly thinking outside the US box. [Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]
