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DVD Insider #30 - Digital Content Everywhere and The Flag
Will Soon Fly
Games
Leading the Way
It used to be that porn pushed our technology. It put
the volume behind VHS,
DVD, web streaming, webcams and digital camcorders. In
some areas of the world,
mobile phone services make a lot of profit from their
adult mini-movies.
But the new generation of home and mobile games and
game systems could be the
key building blocks for tomorrow's entertainment center.
Take a look at the PS2 and XBox. They really are computers
and they are sitting
on top of the TV! They have wired/wireless ports. They
have USB connectivity.
That's why Sony and MS wine and dine the slave labor game developers so they
can sell more home and away units.
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We've been associated with video game
industry since its gentle times. Back
then Atari was aggressively attacking Sega and Nintendo.
There were super systems
Lynx (still outstanding in our opinion) and an elegant system
called Jaguar.
The name of the game was still the game.
But today's Game Developers Conference now is powered by
Intel, Nvidia and ATI.
We're talking serious money. It's so big Hollywood, cable
companies and PC industry
has suddenly become "interested."
There's a whole genre of serious games that are more real
than real for simulation,
training and education. One is being used to distract cancer
patients as they
are being treated. The military around the globe is pouring
billions into serious
games to stimulate a new branch of game development.
The game engines are creating animated movies. Leading this
pack is Epic Games
and their Unreal engine that is setting the stage for a new
way of thinking about,
interacting with and sharing gaming activities. And no it
doesn't all have to
be violent.
The gaming industry is so advanced that you can even experience
in-game dynamic
ads. The game company licenses a "spot" for a period
of time in a specific location
of the world. Since games are active participation, this
is the type of advertising
TV shows and Hollywood movies can only dream of selling.
If Sony's new boss can get the game system people talking
with the Hollywood
people and talking with their Vaio people he just might bring
the company out
of its doldrums. Sir Howard has a reputation of being a superb
diplomat and
if he can pull it off the Welshman may not get a Nobel Peace
Prize but he should
get a huge bonus.
MS wants to help the developers get their work "on
the air" so much they gave
away a thousand TV sets to them this year. They throw out
SDKs to develop product
faster so they can make more money. Guess what platform the
new stuff will run
on???
Gaming is already a multi billion-dollar industry. The suits,
not the body piercers,
call the shots.
These are the folks that push the huge multi-player (multiple
units) games that
can be played at home, in class, on the road or in the airport.
Now the MPAA
and RIAA are involved and BAM!! we're concerned about content
protection.
The Digital World
Other than your government, about the only group that hasn't
converted to true
digital is your television (true most countries have converted
we're waiting
for the U.S. to catch up). We have a deadline - July 2005
- which is almost
here!
By switching from analog to digital TV broadcasting, every
country will be able
to reclaim a lot of spectrum they can sell off for "other" purposes.
Problem is the deadline is a "soft" deadline.
Hollywood says they won't let
their content be shown until TV sets and other boxes ensure
you can't copy and
share the content. Networks and other content producers like
that idea as well
because they know consumers are really thieves in disguise.
Their solution is simple - add a broadcast flag in the programming
so digital
rights management (DRM) protection is "standard" on
all TVs, DVRs, TiVos, Computers
and similar devices that want to capture and use the DTV
content.
Not surprisingly the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association)
wants a fixed cut-off
date (translation - sells more hardware). Of course if you
only have an HDTV-ready
set or - forbid - only an analog set that means the signal
will have to be down
converted so you can continue "enjoying" the content.
Theoretically you have until July to buy a DTV tuner card
that ignores the broadcast
flag which means you can digitally record and copy your TV
shows. There are
a number of products available for your entertainment center
that will do this
as well as stream the content to multiple sets or PCs in
the house so you can
watch them despite the DRM flag.
Of course that won't stop the MPAA and RIAA from marching
up with a team of lawyers
to claim you are stealing food out of their children's mouths.
It's a challenge
that will ultimately have to be heard by the highest court
in the lands.
If you want flag free shows though you should probably buy
earlier instead of
later!
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