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Warner bringing 300 (again), JFK and Casablanca to Blu-ray this fall
Blu-ray 300 fans should finally experience those HD DVD-exclusive bonus features, since Warner has announced a Limited Collector's Edition release of the best seller this fall, along with JFK and Casablanca. Also notched in the "confirmed" column is Band of Brothers, although there's no word if any/all of these flicks will be among those getting the BD-Live treatment. We'll keep an eye out for any new announcements, as much as we enjoy watching people getting booted into a bottomless pit, we're not sure if rehashed PiP and ringtones alone will have buyers reaching into their pockets again.
Warner Bros. lines up BD-Live films for winter release
Considering that Disney just made headlines with its decision to go BD-Live on a few notable releases, it's no real surprise to see Warner Bros. following suit. At the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy conference, the studio's president of Technical Operations Darcy Antonellis asserted that it was "looking to launch web-enabled Blu-ray titles with BD-Live as early as the winter holidays." He elaborated by specifically mentioning "real-time viewing, library tools, a search engine, a recommendation tool with e-mail reminders, ringtones and wallpapers." Unfortunately, nary a clue was given as to what titles would be sporting what features, but it can't go and just reveal everything ahead of time, right?
LEGO Batman is made of wonderful toys
LEGO Batman may be made of cold, hard bricks, but for him, it's kind of fitting. Batman isn't really the most personable of heroes, after all; suited up, he lacks the charm of an Indiana Jones and the whiny tone of the early Luke Skywalker, but that only makes his entrance into the LEGO game hall of fame that much more sensible. The tiny superhero is bringing his toys to our favorite toy handheld this August, and with him come such witticisms as:"You want a piece of him, get in line."Or, y'know, just get really angry and knock him over, or maybe smash him with a fist. That'll learn you, tiny Batman!%Gallery-25069%[Via press release]
SCi board welcomes bailout members
MCV reports that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment president Kevin Tsujihara has joined the board of SCi, parent company of Eidos, as non-executive director. Tsujihara's position is part of the agreement the two companies made when WBHE dropped £60 million on SCi to save it from further financial issues devastation.Also joining the SCi board, in the same role as Tsujihara, is Aaron Brown, an associate of investor Robert Tchenguiz, who also made a similar (but considerably further under the radar) deal as Warner Bros. There's a lot of money and power in that boardroom, now let's see if anything half-decent comes of it.
Warner Bros. to trim theatrical slate, focus on Blu-ray / VOD
Although it was tough to see then, the writing has been on the wall in hindsight. After Warner Bros. absorbed New Line Pictures, characterizing it as a "redundant infrastructure," it's now looking to focus less on cranking out blockbuster theatrical releases and more on pushing Blu-ray / VOD adoption. Jeff Bewkes, president and CEO of Time Warner Inc., has noted that the studio will trim its theatrical slate in half from two years ago, as it hopes to garner more profits by simply "building wider consumer adoption of Blu-ray" and expanding day-and-date VOD releases. Even more interesting was Bewkes assertion that the "expansion of Blu-ray, VOD and related improvements in electronic distribution by moving away from physical DVD would help grow filmed entertainment." After looking at a few motion picture budgets, it's pretty easy to see why distribution looks so delicious. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, xdragon]
Is the world of Harry Potter Turbine's next MMO project?
There has been a good deal of press lately about the $40 million in funding Turbine recently received. But what didn't get looked into deeply was who gave them that cash and why. If you follow the money, we think you'll find all roads lead to Hogwarts.Turbine is a privately held gaming company that specializes in launching and maintaining games from well-known brands, Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online, specifically. Time Warner is one of the new investment partners in this latest round of financing for Turbine. They also own Warner Bros. Studios which owns not only the film rights to The Lord of the Rings (and upcoming Hobbit prequel), but also holds the video game publishing rights to the Harry Potter franchise which also just happens to be the biggest movie franchise in box office history.
Lord of the Rings Trilogy headed to Blu-ray?
Now that we've already got one particular trilogy on our BD radar, it's only fitting that yet another blockbuster trio hit the screen. According to PSU, Peter Jackson has stated outrightly that he is "working on a Blu-ray version of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy with Warner Bros. at the moment," and although he confessed that a release date wasn't available, we are told not to expect it anytime this year. Reportedly, the comments were divulged while chatting about the forthcoming Hobbit, and while we're undoubtedly stoked to hear the news, we can't help but feel somewhat crushed that Profile 4.0 may very well be out and about before this collection ever lands. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Image courtesy of Britannica, thanks Justin]
New Project Origin video compares, gushes blood
While some may look to water and its undulating physics as the standard for current gen eye candy, developer Monolith's yardstick is apparently a tad more crimson. The studio has released a new video for its F.E.A.R. follow-up, Project Origin, showing off the way blood will be handled in the upcoming sequel by comparing the previous game's visceral cherry mist to what can be best described as Project Origin's syrupy goop. On the game's recently launched community website, Monolith FX guru Mark Wood explains some of the work that went into the project's interesting, if messy, take on in-game gore. Writes Wood, the team is working to make the blood "visible from far away, while still feeling meaty and satisfying at closer range," something he concedes was lacking in the original F.E.A.R. The end result looks a bit like blasting strawberry jelly out of a bad guy, which in all honesty should be reason enough to get you to watch the video below.
Wii's Sunday bargain bin
We love Sundays, as there are always new game sales to look forward to. Luckily, this week there are some sweet deals on a few Wii titles. Scouring through the ad listings at Cheap Ass Gamer, the ones we found of interest include: Okami for $29.99 at Best Buy Boom Blox with a free $10 gift card at Circuit City and Target Speed Racer for $29.99 at Target Keep in mind that while Circuit City offers its deals online, Best Buy and Target's are brick and mortar only. Also, Target deals vary by region, so the ones above may or may not apply to stores near you.[Via CAG]Read: Best Buy ad with Okami for $29.99Read: Boom Blox with free $10 gift card at Circuit City
Ellen Degeneres Show going HD on September 8th
High fives all around, The Ellen Degeneres Show is finally making the leap to high-definition. We've been wondering when this mega-hit would ditch its SD ways and start showing up during our morning yoga classes in high-def, and it appears that Monday, September 8th is the day to circle in your date planner. The show will be moving to a new state-of-the-art production facility on the Warner Bros. Studios lot, where it will be produced and broadcast in glorious HD. The sixth season of the show (which has been renewed through 2010 - 2011) will be shot from the completely tapeless Stage 1 complex, and considering the 50-percent increase in seating capacity, quite a few more guests will be able to squeeze in and check things out live. But who needs that when you've got Ellen in high-def?[Image courtesy of Ecorazzi]
Neil Young's entire music archive to be released on Blu-ray
Sun Microsystems's pledge to aid the widespread development of interactive content on Blu-ray wasn't the only thing going down today at the JavaOne Conference in San Francisco. Rather surprisingly, famed musician Neil Young announced plans to "release his entire music archive on Blu-ray discs that can be updated over the internet." Reportedly, the first installment of Young's archive will cover 1963 to 1972 and will be released as a ten-disc set this fall on Reprise / Warner Bros. Records, and subsequent archives will be released chronologically and "include some previously unreleased songs, videos, handwritten manuscripts and other memorabilia." Stressing Blu-ray interactivity, it was also noted that fans could download more songs, photos and tour information via their internet-connected decks. Needless to say, we're pretty stoked about the whole ordeal, and can only hope that more artists follow suit in serving up their work via Blu-ray.[Thanks, JDS]
Blu-ray usage on the rise among PS3 owners, study concludes
Are you using your PS3 for Blu-ray movies? A new study shows that yes, in fact, you are. Blu-ray usage is on the rise amongst PS3 owners, according to Warner Home Video's research. It seems that between the last quarter of 2007 and the end of February saw a usage increase of the PS3 as a Blu-ray player from 53% to 80%. In addition to this, after Sony's ad campaign pushing Blu-ray, disc sales rose from 10% to 15% between October and December of 2007. Take it as you will, but the PS3 is definitely paving the road for Blu-ray and we hope you get more out of your system than merely playing games!
Project Origin video blowout
Monolith has dropped not one, not two, not three, but four new Project Origin trailers for gamers everywhere to ogle. The first, embedded above, deals with the Replica Elite Powered Armor. It is, quite simply, a mech capable of laying waste to all in its path. The video make sure to drive this point home, destroying buildings and vaporizing soldiers that stand in its way (or even in the general vicinity of its way). The second video (embedded after the break along with the other two) concerns the return of one of the enemies in the original F.E.A.R., the Assassin. The Assassin is an acrobatic, pseudo-invisible badass with a penchant for killing. Sound fun? Of course it does. The final two videos are fly-throughs that show off Project Origin's spooky environments. Be the first kid on your block to watch them all.
Project Origin: 5 bloody new screens
Earlier today Monolith dropped five bloody screens of their latest shooter F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin. Each of the five screens includes the proper amount of killing and pools of blood that you would expect from a Monolith title. Also included are a peek at brand new environments and the Giant Mechanized Walker from the player perspective. Not pictured is Alma (above) who really should go see an optometrist about that red-eye problem.%Gallery-21920%
Martin Tremblay appointed president of WB Interactive Entertainment
Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment continues to show how serious it is about all that "interactive entertainment" nonsense with its appointment of Martin Tremblay as President. Before your fingers stretch out towards the keyboard to type "WHO?!!11" into the comments, know that the man used to be President of Worldwide Studios at Vivendi Games during the release of several games, including Scarface: The World is Yours, F.E.A.R (console version), World in Conflict, and some titles in the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro franchises.Tremblay has also acted as President and Chief Operating Officer at Ubisoft Montreal. During his tenure, he oversaw the developer's employee expansion plans, as well popular franchises like Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six and Not Tom Clancy's Prince of Persia.Tremblay's new job will see him steering "the long-term direction of the studio's worldwide interactive entertainment strategy," overseeing publishing, marketing, sales, distribution, licensing and business development of WBIE's products, and taking advantage of that £60 million investment in SCi Entertainment.
Eidos closes down their marketing department
As a result of the recent deal with Warner Bros., Eidos has now announced it will close down its North American marketing, sales and PR departments completely. This coming after their parent company SCi's announcement to cut 25% of its worldwide workforce earlier this year. It hasn't been an easy year for the publisher of such successful titles as Hitman, Deus Ex and the Tomb Raider series, but this may just be the restructuring they've needed.Most importantly for us though, we wonder what this means for Age of Conan, which is handled by Eidos. SCi mentions the fact that they have discontinued development on 14 different game projects in an effort to stem the company's financial losses, including a $161 million deficit in the second half of 2007, and a refocus on high profile games likely to generate a larger return. We can only hope they're talking about Age of Conan.
Lara Croft parent SCi gets 60m from Warner Bros.
SCi Entertainment, video game publisher Eidos' troubled parent company, has been on the ropes as of late. After rumors of a takeover earlier this month and turning down an outright acquisition offer earlier this week, it's gotten a £60 million investment from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment with the sale of 171 million shares.SCi also announced a strategic relationship with the entertainment giant – which also has a presence in gaming with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment – giving the UK-based company "increased scale" in the North American market. Warner apparently has great faith in SCi's "new management team" and "their track record of rich franchises" like Tomb Raider (Underworld remains "encouraging" they say), Hitman, Deus Ex, and Thief.... alright, we made up the Thief part. We're just still curious what Eidos Montreal is up to.[Via GameDaily BIZ]
Speed Racer videos show cars chasin' after someone
Barring those ridiculously annoying mid-race voice-overs from your competing racers, we still like what we're seeing from Speed Racer. Originally, we thought the roads looked too narrow to pass anyone, but it seems like you can also flip over other racers (which is pretty sweet). We're also still insanely curious about the music. Considering the game's F-Zero and Wipeout influences, it has a lot to live up to in terms of soundtrack.We've embedded another video below that was labeled as a "Stunt Gameplay" trailer, which shows the player (in Racer X's car?) tossing other racers of the way, among other things.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is summoned to the Wii
You probably won't be stupefied to know that EA announced the next video game in the Harry Potter series, based on the sixth novel by J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will come out later this year, so that it coincides with the movie's release.In case you are unfamiliar with the games, though, the series puts you in a GTA/Bully-esque sandbox-style world, only you're spending your time at Hogwarts and aren't issuing magical commands to give people wedgies (accio underpants!). When Order of the Phoenix was announced for the Wii way back when, Potterheads everywhere salivated over using the Wiimote as a wand. Upon playing the game, though, it turned out the controls weren't very well-executed. We're too jaded to get our hopes up again, but EA made mention of the company's focus on waggle this time around. If there's any license-based series that we want to like, it's this one, so hopefully EA can deliver.[Via press release]
He's a demon on USB
Are you likely to be spending some money at Target in the near future? Then you might as well head on over there sometime soon and pick up this Speed Racer-themed gift card (which you can use later to buy what you actually wanted in the first place). Even if you're not interested at all in the upcoming game (or movie), you'll still land yourself the free mini USB 2.0 Flash drive that comes with it. The drive only holds 62.8 MB worth of stuff, but should that bother you, you're missing the key word here -- free.Initially, 51.6 MB will be taken up by promotional Speed Racer goodies, but that stuff can always be deleted. Those of you who are looking forward to seeing the Mach 5 in action soon enough, though, might enjoy some of the extras provided. According to GamerTell, the drive includes: Five coloring book-style pages featuring the Mach 5 and Racer X's car (PDF file) A coupon for $1 off a Speed Racer Powerburst racer and $3 off a Speed Racer Powerburst figure-8 track set (PDF file) Two Speed Racer desktop wallpapers A Speed Racer family movie (MOV and WMV files) A special code for the Wii version of the video game (we wonder what that will do/unlock?) Due to the nature of the internet, we're sure you'll be able to find the game code without buying the Flash drive-bundled gift card. Still, we recommend getting one of these pseudo-free sticks if Target is one of your regular stomping grounds.
