NYKO Media Hub Announced for the PlayStation 3

Nyko Technologies, the premier gaming peripherals manufacturer, today revealed details for its upcoming Media Hub for the PlayStation 3. The Media Hub easily attaches to the console, adding three additional USB ports and a media card reader slot that supports SD cards and Memory Sticks. Compatible with all PS3 models, the Media Hub matches the color and contour of the system to expand its media capabilities while maintaining a clean form factor.

The all-new Media Hub from Nyko attaches to any available USB port and enables the connection of three additional USB devices including flash drives, PSP, MP3 players and additional controllers. Its unique design requires no tools or internal modifications, draws its power directly from the PS3, and easily installs in just seconds.

“We found that many of our customers who had purchased the popular 40 GB version of the PS3, which has less USB ports and no media card reader, were looking for an affordable solution to expand with these features,” said Chris Arbogast, Director of Marketing at Nyko Technologies. “With the Media Hub, an additional three USB ports and a media card reader are now possible for all PS3 models, allowing consumers to enjoy the full capabilities of their multimedia system no matter which model they choose.”

Nyko’s Media Hub for PS3 is expected to hit store shelves by August 2008 for the suggested retail price of $19.99. Please visit www.nyko.com for more information.

Guitar Hero Champ Chris Chike Scores 100% on Hardest song in the game

The record setting teen is at it again! Chris Chike (known online and in-game as Iamchris4life) has broken his own Guinness world record of 840,647 points on the hardest song in the game, “Through the fire and the flames” and has now perfected the song with a flawless 100% (987,786 points and a 3722 note streak) on expert—AND caught the whole performance on video.

The video is currently one of the top viewed videos on Youtube and has just broken the 1.6 million view mark (currently stands at 1,609,299).

“I was almost in shock when I finished the song and had hit the 100%–I am so glad I caught it on video or even I wouldn’t have believed it happened,” said Chike. “It feels great to have accomplished it, and it is exciting to see so many people online watching me get a perfect score on the hardest song in the game.”

The teen, who recently signed with The Ant Commandos guitar and peripheral company to be their spokesperson and help them design their next guitar, was recently challenged for his Guinness World record title. But Chike has no doubt he will continue to be at the top of his game and will get the title back soon, declaring “It is pretty hard to beat 100%”.

Copyright Office Examines the Cable and Satellite Statutory Licenses in the Copyright Act

After more than a year of intensive study, the U.S. Copyright Office issued its report on whether to maintain, modify or eliminate Sections 111, 119 and 122 of the Copyright Act. It will serve as the basis for discussion for possible changes to the statutory licenses.

Section 109 of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) of 2004 requires the Copyright Office to examine and compare the statutory licensing systems for the cable and satellite television industries under Sections 111, 119 and 122 of the Copyright Act and recommend any necessary legislative changes no later than June 30, 2008.

The Section 111 license, first enacted in 1976, permits a cable operator to retransmit both local and distant television and radio signals to its subscribers, provided that the cable operators pay royalties according to the formula set forth in the law. The other two licenses govern the retransmission of broadcast signals by satellite carriers. The Section 119 license, first enacted in 1988, permits a satellite carrier to retransmit distant superstation and network television station signals (but not radio signals) to its subscribers for private home viewing and to commercial establishments on a flat fee basis. The Section 122 statutory license, on the other hand, was first enacted in 1999 and permits satellite carriers to retransmit local television station signals into the stations’ local market on a royalty-free basis. These statutory licenses are linked, in many respects, to the broadcast signal carriage rules administered by the Federal Communications Commission.

In preparing its report, the Copyright Office sought comment from the affected industries, copyright owners and other interested parties and held three days of hearings in July 2007 to further supplement the record. The report was delivered to Congress on June 30 by the Copyright Office.

The principal recommendation in the report is that Congress move toward abolishing Section 111 and Section 119 of the Act. According to the Copyright Office, the cable and satellite industries are no longer nascent entities in need of a statutory licensing system. They have substantial market power and are able to negotiate private agreements with copyright owners for programming carried on distant broadcast signals. Moreover, the Copyright Office finds that the Internet video marketplace is robust and is functioning well without a statutory license. The Copyright Office also concludes that the distant-signal programming marketplace is less important in an age when consumers have many more choices for programming from a variety of distribution outlets. The office nevertheless recommends the retention of a royalty-free local-into-local license, because such a license is still necessary and it promotes the general welfare of users, broadcasters and the public.

Despite the Copyright Office’s determination that the ultimate solution should be the elimination of the existing distant signal licenses, it recognizes that the digital television transition in 2009 is likely to generate unanticipated signal reception problems for millions of American households. The office also finds that it is important for Congress to provide a lifeline distant signal service for subscribers during the post-transition period. The Copyright Office therefore recommends the establishment of a new statutory licensing system that would cover the retransmission of distant broadcast signals beginning on Jan. 1, 2010, and ending on Dec. 31, 2014. This will permit users of the license to serve the needs of their subscribers who may experience viewing disruptions. According to the Copyright Office, an equally important rationale for a transitional license is that it will take time for voluntary licensing arrangements to take shape and become widely available. The marketplace will work but it needs to be given time to adapt to changes in the regulatory regime.

Congress may decide that there should still be separate statutory licenses for cable operators and satellite carriers. The Copyright Office, then, makes several recommendations for adjusting Sections 111, 119 and 122. The recommendations in this regard are intended to further parity between cable operators and satellite carriers.

An electronic version of the report will be available under the “Hot Topics” section on the Copyright Office Web site at www.copyright.gov.

Playstation Store Gets its FIRST Third-Party Title

Mastiff, a San Francisco based developer and publisher of videogames, announced today that Nihon Falcom’s action-RPG, Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure has become the first third-party PSP (PlayStation Portable) system title available for online purchase and download to the PSP system through the PLAYSTATION Store and is available now.

Upon its release last year, Gurumin immediately won over the hearts of countless reviewers.

Gamespy, for example, said “Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure delivers the classic Japanese RPG experience and is simultaneously adorable and hilarious. If you’re only planning to get a single RPG for your PSP this year, this could well be the one to play.”

The Associated Press said”Gurumin” is filled with a uniquely Japanese sense of whimsy that translates well into English, and it’s one of the nicest surprises of the year so far.” Review site Deeko said “Gurumin is one of those rare games that should be in every PSP owners collection.” Console Gameworld, echoed the sentiment, writing “Gurumin is definitely one of those titles you have to pick up, period.”

“Charming, full of personality, and with a gentle sense of humor, Gurumin is a bright and catchy portable game,” said Heather Campbell of Play magazine. And Geoff Haynes of leading gaming website IGN.com, called Gurumin “…an excellent title that should appeal to action fans.” Gurumin’s strong reviews earned it a place in the top 50 of almost 1100 PSP titles ranked on IGN.com.

About Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure:
Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure stars a strong-willed girl named Parin, who is sent to live with her grandfather in a small mining town while her parents are off excavating an ancient ruin. With no other children living in this town, Parin is surprised one day to encounter a young girl being tormented by a stray dog. After Parin drives off the mongrel, she is shocked to discover the young girl is actually a monster, and like all monsters, invisible to adults. Parin is soon invited to the mysterious Monster Village, which happens to be hidden right behind her town. Parin has just started making monster friends when evil spirits, known as Phantoms, invade the village and monsternap most of the inhabitants. Parin soon learns of the Legendary Drill, a weapon hidden underneath the village that is powerful enough to destroy the Phantoms. Thus begins Parin’s quest to reclaim the Legendary Drill and set the world right.

Gurumin features Include:
* Non-linear game play in over 30 stages set in a variety of environments.
* 23 non-player characters, 48 unique enemies, and more than 90 items to collect.
* 18+ costumes to unlock, and 15 equip-able headgear to level up.
* Destroy everything in your path with your legendary drill: almost all objects in a stage can be destroyed, and many hide money and valuable items.
* Challenging boss battles, puzzles and traps.
* Mini-games galore!
* Hidden characters, modes and other secrets.

For more information on Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure please visit www.gurumin.us.

Blizzard Exec: Microsoft not doing enough for PC Gaming

Rob Pardo

It’s great that there’s a resurgence of PC gaming, or at least PC game development. Valve is already doing fantastic with promising stuff in Steam Cloud. Blizzard show their respect for the venerable platform by making pretty much all their games PC-exclusive (and they’re all big hits, too). I mention this because I believe that Blizzard has every authority of accusing Microsoft for not doing anything for Windows and gaming.

Ever since Microsoft dipped its feet into the console world, it’s never come back, devoting all of its gaming attention to the Xbox and Xbox 360. This is with good reason, as Blizzard COO Paul Sams notes, because it is where Microsoft Games’ bread and butter is, and it is their system, after all.

But they just can’t continue to ignore Windows.Certainly they have a lot in Windows. And Windows is a system that supports all the business applications as well as games.” he says. That’s true: active participation from Microsoft is what is necessary to bring forth the PC as a gaming platform. Windows is easily the most widespread platform right now, with more copies of Windows in this world than every other console combined.

Take heed, Microsoft, and mend your ways!

Rock Band 2 Announced!

Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game company in the world, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks, along with marketing and distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc., are taking the groundbreaking music platform that forever changed the face of music video games to the next level this September with the release of Rock Band 2. With the original providing millions of players a new way to interact with the music and artists they love, Rock Band 2 is the next evolution of the franchise that redefined the standard for music games.

Rock Band is the groundbreaking platform that allows music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before – challenging players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals.

Rock Band 2 builds upon its foundation as the first music game to introduce co-operative band gameplay, multiple instruments, a robust online multiplayer experience, an unrivaled offering of downloadable content and raises the bar by delivering an entirely new level of depth, connectivity, authenticity and features including:

* Backwards compatibility with Rock Band downloadable music content. All previously purchased tracks will immediately load into your Rock Band 2 song list. No need to re-purchase or re-download.
* The biggest and most diverse soundtrack ever featuring some of rock’s most prolific acts, comprised entirely of master recordings.
* Major new and dynamic online modes that will connect the entire Rock Band community in more ways than ever before both locally and globally.
* More variety of instrument choices than ever before with new and improved drum and guitar peripherals, enhanced functionality and innovative new designs – all fully compatible with the original Rock Band instruments.
* And much more.

“As successful as the original Rock Band continues to be, we’ve now had the benefit of the last eight months to listen to our fans’ requests and to build upon that foundation,” said Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO of Harmonix. “Rock Band 2 is a second-generation band game that will elevate the music game experience to the next level.”

Rock Band 2 will make its debut on Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this September and have an exclusive launch window in North America. Rock Band 2 will be available for additional platforms later this year.

“We expect Rock Band 2 to continue to drive an amazing social music experience on Xbox 360, said David Hufford, senior director, Xbox Product Management for the Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft. “We look forward to supporting Rock Band 2 on Xbox 360 as gamers continue to download hundreds of new music tracks from Xbox LIVE so they and their friends can perform the rock music they love most.

More details regarding features and music for Rock Band 2 will be revealed at the 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit. Rock Band, the first installment in the franchise, garnered more than 40 awards including Game Critics Award: Best of Show E3 2007.

In addition, Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that The Rock Band online music store recently surpassed 15 million paid downloads since the game’s launch in late November 2007. With more than 200 tracks available to date via download purchase (complete list of tracks at http://www.rockband.com/dlc), the massive Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks, packs and albums from the vast selection of offerings available as they build their own custom Rock Band library.

Rock Band 2 is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.