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Showtime to launch On Broadband gaming network
Subscription cable network Showtime has announced plans to launch On Broadband, an online gaming service, in second quarter 2007. Although a subscription model will be available, games will be available for purchase a la carte to download for your PC.The service will be sold to cable TV and DSL companies to function under their name, although all the work will be done by On Broadband. No details have been given as to what games will be offered or what prices will be set (and whether that will be up to Showtime or the individual providers).Any comparisons to GameTap might be unfair as this service is not working under an unified name. However, if their intention is to compete with Turner's subscription gaming network, then their next few announcements better be partnerships with some major publishers.
GameTap VP of Content: Episodic games should reflect TV shows
Rick Sanchez, Vice President of Content at GameTap, outlines his thoughts on the potential of episodic games. After defining episodic content -- regularly scheduled chapters of a game that can stand alone -- he focuses on why this method of game design fits the market.Sanchez says that the production and life of episodic games could reflect a TV show. When looking for a publisher, developers could create an episodic pilot of a game, like the TV pilot season allows producers to attempt a variety of shows at a relatively low cost. A publisher could order a series of episodes based on the game pilot, and even more episodes could be schedule based on consumer purchases and feedback.Sanchez also notes that the casual gamer could support the bite-sized style of episodic publishing. We sometimes avoid -- or don't complete -- 60-hour games because we don't have the time. While we're not casual gamers, we prefer frequently playing a game for a short duration. Does the pick-up-and-play aesthetic inherently relate to gameplay -- like Katamari Damacy or Tetris -- or can chapters of a first-person shooter also fit that ideal?
GameTap now in Canada, other locations planned
GameTap, the subscription, all-you-can-eat game download service is expanding into Canada and other international locations. Beginning today, Canadian gamers can pay $6.95 USD each month and are also eligible for the current $59.40 USD promotion for a full year. GameTap plans a bigger worldwide rollout in 2007, with the first quarter goal to reach three or four other English-speaking markets. After that, the company will focus on additional English markets throughout the year, with non-English localizations prepared for 2008.We assumed that the delay for international release was due to licensing issues -- game distribution licenses vary by region -- however, David Reid, VP of GameTap Marketing told us via email that the wait was unrelated. Reid explained, "We were far more concerned with getting the product right before exporting GameTap out of the U.S. Now, with the original content, robust community features, over 700 games, and GameTap TV programming, we truly feel that we have a strong, comprehensive product ... ."However, the company can still be challenged by landing local publishing rights. Reid acknowledged that the exact lineup of games will be almost the same for all markets, but not every title will be available. He said, "For any games that are not initially included, especially any particularly notable titles, we will be working hard to bring those to our international audience."GameTap also announced its "GameTap Originals" brand, a way to publish new content. We already knew about Sam & Max, released today, and Myst Online: Uru Live, being released in December; both of those games will receive the Originals label.Reid couldn't specify, but said that other developers and titles are on the way. He also said that exclusivity -- Sam & Max will also be offered from Telltale next month -- will be determined on a case-by-case basis.While the news is anti-climactic for American gamers, Canadians -- and eventually other regions -- can now ponder the subscription-versus-ownership question for themselves.See also: Gametap for $5 paid in advance
GameTap for $5 paid in advance
Is $9.95-per-month too expensive for GameTap? If you want to pay in advance, Cheap Ass Gamer mentions a half-off promotion to get a year for $59.40 -- that works out to $4.95 each month.GameTap will launch episodes of Sam & Max beginning October 17, and Myst Online: Uru Live is expected later this year. Our GameTap interest had been at shrug-level before the promise of new content. Now anticipating those games, we're at raised-eyebrow. $4.95 each month may elevate us to tilting nod.The half-off promotion ends October 22.See Also:Joystiq interviews David Reid of GameTapJoystiq interviews Dan Connors and Emily Morganti of TelltaleJoystiq interviews Rand Miller of Cyan Worlds[Via Cheap Ass Gamer]
Sam & Max cartoon coming to GameTap
GameTap users will soon be able to watch The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police, the animated show that was on Fox Kids back in the late nineties. The first episode will debut this Thursday, October 12, and will percolate at a rate of one episode per week. GameTap TV will also be airing a "Making of Sam & Max" original show.The Sam & Max show ran for 24 episodes. If GameTap keeps their promise of one episode per week, we'll have something to look forward to every week until March 22, 2007. As for Sam & Max: Season One: The first installment debuts next Tuesday, October 17. GameTap users gloat about their fifteen day exclusivity. On November 1, everyone can get Sam & Max. GameTap users lose bragging rights but still get the animated show. Periods of gloating recommence in December, for 15 days each month, until the end of the season in April. Sam & Max: Season One, sans GameTap, will be $9 per episode or $35 for a season pass. Those who need a quick Sam & Max fix can check out fr34kystyley's Sam & Max repository on GooTube YouTube -- act now before The Man shuts it down! Continue reading for some artsy craftsy bit of time wasting nonsense.
Sam & Max will be $9/episode, $35/season
Telltale has finally announced the pricing of their upcoming episodic adventure series, Sam & Max. Though the series will debut Oct. 17th on Gametap, as part of their $10/month subscription service, gamers will be able to download individual episodes from Telltale directly for $9 per episode or $35 per season (six episodes).The season pass will save you nearly $20 off the individual price and earn you the option of ordering a CD of the entire season when it's all wrapped up for just the cost of shipping. That's all the benefits of episodic distribution, with none of the non-physical hangups our retail-addicted brains insist are so important.So what they're saying is that if you want to play Sam & Max you can either foot the $10 Gametap subscription fee, or buy the whole thing en masse. If the S&M release schedule -- designed to be shorter and more frequent -- maintains it's once-a-month goal, who's going to get individual episodes for $9 when Gametap is offering their entire library for just a buck more?More on Sam & Max:Joystiq interviews Dan Connors and Emily Morganti of TelltaleSam & Max "season premiere" Oct. 17 on GameTap
Uru Live to let players create ages with developer tools [update 1]
As mentioned in our interview with Rand Miller, co-creator of the Myst empire, Myst Online: Uru Live will eventually let users build their own ages. Miller has always had this poetic goal of letting players "write" Myst environments of their own; Cyan Worlds plans to provide its own development tools to gamers to make this happen.While Miller states that this is "forward looking" and may change, he thinks ambitious gamers are up for the challenge. He says, "We're always amazed at what our fans are able to accomplish, frankly, and by making those tools available, I think we'll be even more surprised. ... Essentially what we're creating in the mythology of all this is a writer's guild."Miller anticipates that the development tools will be available in about six months, the time he thinks is needed for them to stop being updated.Developers rarely give their own game- or level-creating tools to fans. This move is especially uncommon in an MMO with a plot, versus online sandbox games like Second Life. We're interested to see how Cyan Worlds lets players move between its content and community-created ages.Myst Online: Uru Live will launch this "holiday season" as part of GameTap's standard $10 monthly fee.[Update 1: fixed ship date error.]
Joystiq interviews Rand Miller of Cyan Worlds [update 1]
Myst Online: Uru Live will let thousands of players convene in Myst ages to solve puzzles. Touting the persistence of the world as a major feature -- light switches and doors stay how you leave them -- Cyan Worlds thinks the collaborative nature of Myst will make a unique Massively Multiplayer Online game. Two years ago, Uru Live was canceled just before its initial launch under Ubisoft. Now, after developing it for a total of six years, Cyan Worlds is working with its new publisher, GameTap, to prepare the game for a "holiday" release. Uru Live will be offered as part of the monthly $10 GameTap subscription for the U.S. audience, but GameTap will release Uru Live as a stand-alone subscription in other parts of the world. (GameTap is not yet offered outside of the U.S.) We recently spoke with Myst co-creator Rand Miller, while Producer, Mark "Moke" Dobratz demonstrated the game. They talked about how Uru Live supports the collaborative sensibility of Myst players, how the game will let you have individual experiences within its MMO structure, and plans to let users build their own ages.[Update 1: Fixed ship-date error.]
Joystiq interviews David Reid of GameTap
We recently sat down for a quick meeting with David Reid, VP of Marketing for GameTap, the Turner game-download subscription service. GameTap had previously announced that the episodic releases of Sam & Max and Myst Online: Uru Live would be added to the service as part of its monthly $10 fee; these are the first new games to go alongside GameTap's catalog of re-releases. Reid talked about how GameTap is growing, the sort of gamer it attracts, and how -- as Reid says with his marketing prowess -- the site is shifting from the DVD-model to the HBO-model of new content.
Joystiq interviews GameTap's David Reid
We had a chance to sit down again with David Reid at PAX, and talk with the former director of platform marketing for Xbox and current vice president of marketing for Turner's online subscription gaming platform GameTap about the growing role of episodic gaming and downloadable content, the Sam & Max deal, competition with Xbox Live, and even the Penny Arcade game. Since the interview took place on Friday morning -- after the embargo on the Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness game had already been broken, but before the team made their official announcement -- there wasn't much David could say except that they'd be willing to work with Penny Arcade "in principle." You can download the full interview here (.mov), or watch the video embedded after the break.
GASP: Phantom console fails to materialize
As tempting as it was to conjure up a "Phantom console CANCELLED" headline, the realization quickly set in that such a sensational piece of text simply wouldn't make any sense. How do you cancel something that never even existed to begin with? Zing, etc. It would appear that Phantom Entertainment has revamped their ball of lies website, quietly ushering in the demise of an imagined console and the arrival of an allusion to some sort of broadband game service. Said service is described as "the first end-to-end, on-demand game service delivering online games directly to your living room or any comfortable setting in your home or workplace." Fascinating, but since "the Company intends to modify the Phantom Game Service software to run as client software on personal computers operating Windows XP and Windows XP Media center operating systems," games will only be going to your living room should that be the location of your computer. First indeed.Further comedic value can be found in the "Who We Are" section, which duly describes the company as "an industry-leading, global entertainment and interactive game company." To be fair, it's probably the most truthful statement to be found on the entire website, as Phantom Entertainment is undoubtedly the leader of at least one industry and is frequently a provider of entertainment. Well, that and $129.95 Lapboards which, with the original console canned, barely have a reason to exist.[Thanks, delerious.]
Aspyr moves Mac owners into The Gamerhood
Aspyr has announced plans to launch a new game downloading service intended specifically for Mac gamers. Dubbed The Gamerhood, the application will enable gamers to purchase and download full Mac titles directly to their spinning platters, neatly avoiding disc-based media and inept cashiers in the process. Some of the promised features of the service include the automagic checking of system requirements, easy access to game patches and effortless organization of your personal catalogue.The service launches in Fall 2006, giving Aspyr plenty of time to prep that elusive, purely hypothetical Mac version of Dreamfall: The Longest Journey and start up the online catalogue with a bang. If The Gamerhood can strike a balance between content and convenience, Mac gamers may find it awfully difficult to resist. If not, endless "gamer ghetto" jokes are sure to ensue (and they will all be terrible).[Via TUAW]
Sega to demonstrate Blast Processing on GBA
The anthropomorphically inclined folks at Sega sent out a press release over the weekend reminding us of the great things their spiky blue mascot has accomplished in the 15 years since his debut (quite a lot, actually). Though much of the celebratory confetti is being heaped upon Sonic's forthcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 adventure, Sega is also busting out the nostalgia champagne and pouring the original blast processed game into the GBA's tiny frame. It was this bit of news that implanted a rather disturbing image in our minds -- that of Sonic standing on a dimly lit street corner, slowly inhaling the ill effects of a cigarette and inappropriately adjusting a pair of fishnet stockings that, if we're being completely honest, were never a very good fit to begin with. The $20 GBA version of Sonic the Hedgehog will no doubt be quite alluring to avid hedgehog fans, but we're very interested in seeing how many gamers will actually approach the game with a clean slate. Not having played the game in some form by now is quite a feat, one that requires either an uncanny ability to avoid consoles or an untimely death approximately 20 years ago. If you've been keeping track at all, you would realize that Sonic the Hedgehog is already (and officially) playable on the Genesis, Sega Saturn (via Sonic Jam), Playstation 2, Xbox, Gamecube and PC. Within a few months, you can add the Wii and the Xbox 360 to that list. It's only fair that the GBA gets its share of an absolutely fantastic game, but with an excellent string of Sonic Advance titles under its cap and the excellent Sonic Rush available for its dual-screen sibling, it seems like the least necessary piece. Just like Sega's decision to add Sonic's Spin Dash (from Sonic 2) into the game. That one's going to upset a lot of people (see: "Let's give Mega Man 1 his floor slide!"), though at least they can all take comfort in the fact that Sega resisted the urge to give a hedgehog some Magnums, a controllable vehicle and an Urkel-powered in-your-face attitude. Oh, wait. [Thanks to everyone that sent this in.]
GameTap celebrates Sonic anniversary, Knuckles-style
GameTap is now celebrating Sonic the Hedgehog's 15th anniversary by offering subscribers a trio of rare Sega Genesis "lock-on" titles. Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles, Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic 2, and Sonic 3: Sonic & Knuckles are now available through Turner Broadcasting's on-demand service, which is now over 500 titles strong.GameTap TV is also joining the party with three behind-the-scenes looks at one of the most popular characters in video game history.Related GameTap news: A second life for Uru Live GameTap E3 booth tour GameTap now $9.95/month; GameTap TV announced
Activision CEO plays down potential of online distribution [update 1]
Bobby Kotick, the chief executive officer of Activision, stated that he believes digital distribution of full games is "so far in the future that it's almost incomprehensible as an opportunity" in the New York Times article we reported on the other day. He cites the current limits of consumer internet bandwidth and the size of hard drives as the primary concern. However, Mr. Kotick believes that there is a great opportunity for purchasing and downloading smaller add-on content like "characters, new weapons, new missions or auctioning off places".We mainly agree with Mr. Kotick's thoughts regarding the adoption of mainstream digital distribution being a while off. Even though broadband adoption and availability numbers (soon, 99.6% of the UK will have access to 4-8Mbps DSL) are increasing, figures from December 2005 suggest that only 15-20% of Japanese, American and British people actually own a high speed internet line. Those numbers need to be closer to the level that television enjoys if mainstream on-demand digital distribution is to work.However, the market for smaller games and episodes of larger commercial games which can be distributed entirely over the internet is on the verge of exploding; Half-Life: Episodes and Geometry Wars being the early signs. Writing off the internet as a medium for distributing games would be a bad move for many publishers, after all, the early bird gets the loyal customer! Services like Steam, GameTap and Xbox Live Arcade are already beginning to capture the mindshare of savvy gamers (i.e. gamers that are too lazy to walk to the store, lol, jk!), so if publishers want to maintain control of what they do best (publishing games), then surely they should be doing everything they can to get in first before the bogeyman middleman does.[Image credit: Gamasutra]Update: clarified statement regarding adoption of broadband by consumers.
A second life for Uru Live
Myst fans who weren't stymied by installation problems and frequent crashes in the Uru spin-off games were left lamenting the cancellation of Uru Live back in early 2004. The opportunity to build virtual neighborhoods and engage in multiplayer exploration of the Miller brothers' wondrous ages was taken away when Ubisoft decided there were not enough projected subscribers to support an online service.Enter GameTap. Last week at E3, Ted Turner's on-demand gaming service announced they will team with developer Cyan Worlds to give Uru a proper online home this holiday season. The decision was due in no small part to the active Uru Live community that nurtured the franchise after the plug was pulled two years ago. Read more about these fan-created services in the CNET article, and for more information on the game itself, visit Uru Live where you can sign up for the beta.Now, maybe Ted can do something about Duke Nukem Forever.[Thanks to Daniel at CNET]
GameTap booth tour [update 1]
The GameTap booth is not one of those huge monstrosities that had to be trucked in on a fleet of 18-wheel semis, but it is a good example of a booth done fairly well on a limited budget. Plentiful kiosks, coherent branding, and a decent sound system fed tunes by a live DJ cum booth babe. The booth's low points -- trite "industrial" exposed steel, cheap plastic game controllers instead of classic arcade joysticks, conventional design -- were somewhat overcome by the quality of the real product on display. Simply put: GameTap's 500-plus-title library is impressive, and we shouldn't let a little boring booth design undermine our evaluation of the product. We know this, and yet sometimes it's hard to remember to keep the booths and the products separate! Continue for more photos.
GameTap now $9.95/month; GameTap TV announced
PC subscription gaming service GameTap has dropped its monthly fee from $14.95 to $9.95 and announced a GameTap TV expansion that will offer "a new broadband video streaming network" for games- and non-games-related programming.The GameTap TV feature will include separate channels dedicated to music videos, network game previews, GT TV-exclusive content, and "even an animation channel set to go live this spring that will feature an original series of animated shorts."We don't know where Space Ghost fits into all these broadband network plans, but we're sure that it can't be good. The cost-cutting measure by the TBS-owned venture are important in light of all the digital-download announcements made by the big console manufacturers recently, but it's hard to tell whether the $5 drop in monthly fees will greatly increase the number of current PC subscribers. Anyone gonna jump in on this?See also: What is GameTap? [Official page where the inset image was found] GameTap to offer previews, trailers GameTap: Turner's games-on-demand site is live
