News – Page 55 – StuffWeLike

Fox Buys Flektor and Photobucket

Fox Interactive Media (FIM) today announced separate agreements to acquire Photobucket (http://www.photobucket.com) and Flektor, Inc (http://www.flektor.com). Photobucket is one of the Web’s most popular photo- and video-sharing services, and Flektor is a next-generation Web site that provides users with a suite of Web-based tools to transform their photos and videos into dynamic slideshows, postcards, live interactive presentations and video mash-ups. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

“The acquisition of these two companies is a perfect strategic fit for us that reinforces FIM’s leadership in user-generated content,” said Peter Levinsohn, President of Fox Interactive Media. “As a leading site for creative expression Photobucket extends our reach among personal media sharing enthusiasts and the innovative new entrant Flektor brings highly-differentiated new tools to the table that will drive the next generation. Together, they represent a powerful combination and we are thrilled for them to join our network.”

Photobucket and Flektor join a number of other leading online destinations within FIM, currently the Web’s most-viewed network in the U.S. with more than 45 billion page views per month.* The group’s properties include MySpace, IGN Entertainment, FOXSports.com, AmericanIdol.com and others.

PHOTOBUCKET
Photobucket (http://www.photobucket.com) has over 42 million users* linking billions of personal photos, images, slideshows, and videos to hundreds of thousands of Web sites. In addition, 47% of all Photobucket users link to social networks such as FIM’s MySpace (http://www.myspace.com), the world’s leading lifestyle portal.

Photobucket is expected to remain in operation as a standalone site while its technology and tools will be used to enhance sites across the FIM network, as well as the more than 300,000 other Web sites linked to by Photobucket’s users. Photobucket is based in Denver, CO, with additional offices in Palo Alto, CA.

“Becoming part of the Fox Interactive Media network will have a tremendous and positive impact on our ability to serve our users’ needs,” said Alex Welch, CEO Photobucket. “We plan to continue developing innovative tools that enhance self-expression and allow our users to have the best media sharing, linking and searching experience on the Web. Partnering with FIM will give us the resources and support to deliver on this vision, as well as the ability to offer new opportunities to our end users, customers and partners.”

FLEKTOR, Inc.
Flektor’s innovative technology enables users to edit video and audio content in real-time, and either publish the finished product to Flektor.com (http://www.flektor.com) or embed it on any number of Web sites, blogs or social network profile pages.

By offering both editing and storage capabilities, Flektor gives content creators the tools to easily create mash-ups or other types of user-generated media clips without incurring the cost or technical expertise necessary to store and manage large files. Flektor’s approach to streaming photo slideshows and videos allows users to incorporate live features, such as quizzes and polls, into their creations and update previously-posted content without having to re-post the files.

”We founded Flektor to give Internet users the tools they need to easily create, connect and share content,” said Jason Rubin, co-founder of Flektor. “Becoming a part of the Fox Interactive Media network will enable us to deliver these tools to the broadest possible online audience.”

iTunes Plus

Apple today launched iTunes Plus — DRM-free music tracks featuring high quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings — for just $1.29 per song. iTunes Plus is launching with EMI’s digital catalog of outstanding recordings, including singles and albums from Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, Joss Stone,
Pink Floyd, John Coltrane and more than a dozen of Paul McCartney’s classic albums available on iTunes for the first time.

iTunes will continue to offer its entire catalog, currently over five million songs, in the same versions as today — 128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM — at the same price of 99 cents per song, alongside the higher quality iTunes Plus versions when available. In addition, iTunes customers can now easily upgrade their library of previously purchased EMI content to iTunes Plus tracks for just 30 cents a song and $3.00 for most albums.

“Our customers are very excited about the freedom and amazing sound quality of iTunes Plus,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We expect more than half of the songs on iTunes will be offered in iTunes Plus versions by the end of this year.”

“This is a tremendous milestone for digital music,” said Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group. “Consumers are going to love listening to higher quality iTunes Plus tracks from their favorite EMI artists with no usage restrictions.”

With the release of iTunes Plus, customers can now download tracks from their favorite EMI artists without limitations on the type of music player or number of computers that purchased songs can be played on. iTunes is also offering customers a simple, one-click option to easily upgrade their library of previously purchased EMI content to the iTunes Plus versions. EMI music videos are now also available in iTunes Plus versions with no change in price. iTunes Plus songs purchased from the iTunes Store will play on all iPods, Mac or Windows computers, widescreen TVs with Apple TV and soon iPhones, as well as many other digital music players.

iTunes U

Apple today announced the launch of iTunes U, a dedicated area within the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) featuring free content such as course lectures, language lessons, lab demonstrations, sports highlights and campus tours provided by top US colleges and universities including Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Duke University and MIT.

“iTunes U makes it easy for anyone to access amazing educational material from many of the country’s most respected colleges and universities,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “Education is a lifelong pursuit and we’re pleased to give everyone the ability to download lectures, speeches and other academic content for free.”

“From its earliest days, Stanford has sought to serve the public by sharing the knowledge generated by our faculty and students,” said Stanford Provost John Etchemendy. “Our partnership with Apple and iTunes U provides a creative and innovative way to engage millions of people with our teaching, learning and research and share the experience of intellectual exploration and discovery that defines our university.”

Created in collaboration with colleges and universities, iTunes U makes it
easier than ever to extend learning, explore interests, learn more about a school and stay connected with an alma mater. Content from iTunes can be loaded onto an iPod with just one click and experienced on-the-go, anytime, making learning from a lecture just as simple as enjoying music.

The iTunes Store features the world’s largest catalog, adding new education content to over five million songs, 350 television shows and over 500 movies. The iTunes Store has sold over 2.5 billion songs, 50 million TV shows and over two million movies, making it the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store.

200 Million Online DS Game Sessions

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection has crossed two huge milestones within just days of one another. Worldwide, since its launch in November 2005, Nintendo’s wireless gaming service has now connected more than 5 million unique Nintendo DS owners, and those gamers have racked up more than 200 million game-play sessions. Worldwide, nearly 65 games can be played via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The five most popular globally are Animal Crossing: Wild World,
Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime Hunters, Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl.

“Nintendo DS gamers globally use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection as an easy, fun place to find fellow players, all without paying anything extra for the service,” explains Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “The milestones represent millions of hours of fun and camaraderie despite miles between players.”

Nintendo DS continues to enjoy record-breaking success. According to new figures from the independent NPD Group, DS was again the top-selling video game system in April, with more than 470,000 units sold in the United States alone. That’s nearly 16,000 per day.

Nintendo DS also finds success beyond the stereotypical young male gamer. According to internal Nintendo demographic tracking studies, in less than 18 months, DS purchases have increased by 42 percent among women, 127 percent among people 30 and older and 212 percent among people 35 and older.

American McGee’s Grimm

GameTap announced today the latest addition to the GameTap Originals line-up. The 24 episodic gaming series will debut in the spring of 2008.

“American McGee is one of the best known and most dynamic developers in the industry today and Grimm is the perfect fit with our GameTap Originals brand,” said Ricardo Sanchez, GameTap’s VP of content. “American is really exploring the potential of episodic game development. Adding this exciting new title to our list of already successful episodic game titles shows our commitment to this proven format.”

In keeping with American’s distinct development style on his smash hit game American McGee’s Alice, fans can expect the same twisted treatment of children’s classics, in addition to a fantastical art style, and groundbreaking gameplay elements. American McGee’s Grimm is a narrative-driven, action-adventure game which immerses the player in a world built around some of the best known tales from the Brothers Grimm, including Rapunzel, Rumplestiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, and Snow White.

“My interpretation of these classic fables will provide gamers with an entertaining and interactive way of experiencing how the stories were originally meant to unfold,” said American McGee, creative director for Spicy Horse. “The ‘chapters’ inherently lend themselves to the new episodic model that GameTap has perfected.”

American McGee’s Grimm is a story-driven action-adventure game. The player interacts with a compelling collection of vividly drawn characters inhabiting a world built around twisted takes on the best-known tales in Western fiction. The game combines familiar exploration and questing conventions with a thematically inspired fighting mechanic based on the notion that “words are weapons”.

Players will experience the game in a sandbox world which contains missions assigned in episodic fashion. Game and narrative concepts equivalent to TV cliffhangers will be used to create game play and story interest to encourage players to keep up with new releases.

NCsoft Releases Free MMO

Dungeon Runners

NCsoft North America announced it has opened to the public its first free-to-download and play game, Dungeon Runners, as the company continues to expand its online entertainment offerings. Dungeon Runners is an online, multiplayer role playing game in a fast-paced sword-and-shield setting where defeating monsters and evil enemies results in piles of loot and treasure.

Dungeon Runners, currently available strictly via free digital download, has a play-for-free tier where players can access large chunks of the game’s content, and a “membership level” for $4.99 per month where players are given, among other things, log-in queue priority and access to the most powerful items, weapons and armor. Membership status also includes bank storage for up to 220 loot items and the ability to stack potions in one slot to save room for even more loot.

In Dungeon Runners, there are a variety of character archetypes to choose from including fighter, mage and ranger in a classless RPG system where players are not locked into skills that are usually associated with their specific archetype.

Dungeon Runners focuses mainly on action and battles with limited death penalties and endless gold, weapons, armor and magic items available to claim after defeating hordes of monsters. The game also features a lighter side, with subtle and not-so-subtle humor sprinkled throughout the game including names of many items in the game. For example, one particularly dangerous sword is called “Shifty’s Crystal Sword of the Hypersonic Monkey” and a very helpful magic item called the “Pulsating Dragon Eye Amulet of the Thorny Donkey.”

“Dungeon Runners is a lot of fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. But the game will take players into an action packed-adventure, where they blaze through a maze of dungeons, face fierce monsters and formidable opponents to become a hero,” said Stephen Nichols, NCsoft’s producer and lead programmer for Dungeon Runners. “Regardless if a player pays to be a member or plays for free, Dungeon Runners will deliver more than 200 hours of game play and a continually growing number of missions and quests. The game is also designed to appeal to gamers who have limited time to give to a game, but it will have the content to keep players adventuring for hours at a time.”

While NCsoft presents Dungeon Runners as a scaled down version of its other online games, Dungeon Runners is far superior to other “free with membership” type games due to the high standards NCsoft’s development team applies to all the products it creates, regardless of business model.

“Dungeon Runners is a bold leap into a new business model for NCsoft and it is taking us into a new direction in terms of the kind of games we can provide our customers,” said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. “There are plenty of other ‘free’ games available for online RPG fans, but none that packs as many features as Dungeon Runners has or comes with the NCsoft stamp of quality. We expect that players will receive this game warmly because it is fast, fun and free. It is hard to beat that deal.”

Dungeon Runners is available to download and play for free at www.dungeonrunners.com/join.html.

Moreover, Dungeon Runners launched with an exclusive promotion on FilePlanet.com featuring bonus content for FilePlanet readers and subscribers. Details can be found at http://www.fileplanet.com.

To find out more please visit the Dungeon Runners web site at: www.dungeonrunners.com.