tv

industry news

Jilted Lovers, Mullets and Exploding Dogs - The LittleBigPlanet Euro Ads

Posted by Stuart Houghton at 5:20 AM on November 8, 2008

events

Dead Space: Downfall To Air On Encore Action Sunday

Posted by Mike Fahey at 5:20 AM on October 31, 2008

Did you love Dead Space, but not enough to shell out $15 for a DVD version of the animated film tie-in Dead Space: Downfall? Well if you receive Starz's Encore Action channel from your cable provider then you're in luck, as the full animated feature will be making its world television premier this Sunday, November 2nd, at 10PM Eastern and Pacific.

"We are thrilled to have the world television premiere of Dead Space: Downfall on Encore Action," said Nancy Silverstone, vice president of program acquisitions for Starz Entertainment. "The feature sets a new standard for animated horror that our audience will love. It provides the story thread from the comic books to the newly released game, using the background and sound design from the game and the same artistic spirit of the comic book series."

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real world

Jane Wells' Son - The Epic Conclusion, With A Twist!

Posted by Mike Fahey at 4:30 AM on September 30, 2008

We've been following the epic saga of CNBC reporter Jane Wells' son and his on and off love affair with the PlayStation 3 with bated breath here at Kotaku Tower, sitting on the very edge of our seats, feet littered with discarded popcorn containers as we wait and see just what happens next. First he trades in his Xbox 360 for a PlayStation 3, then he misses his Xbox Live friends and turns to World of Warcraft for comfort. Now for the finale which ties it all together!

So this weekend, he dragged his PS3 back to the same Game Stop where he bought it to trade it in for another Xbox. This, even as a friend in line with us complained about his Xbox acting up now that it's out of warranty.

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events

Blizzcon 2008 PPV Offering Aussies Polar Bear Mount

Australian Post Posted by Seamus Byrne at 10:05 AM on September 26, 2008

It's great news for fans they can get their Blizzcon on thanks to Main Event Pay-Per-View here in Australia, but the disappearance of the Polar Bear Mount gave a slight tinge of disappointment. We've now received the official press release on the PPV and turns out they were just finalising local details, because the Polar Bear Mount (with flag-waving Murloc) is now heading to homes of viewers who buy in on both days of the package.

We checked in with Foxtel PR, and were told that yes, you do have to be a subscriber to pay for a Main Event PPV. So you can't just buy the mount for $29.90. But if you have family or friends who have Foxtel and aren't into WoW, throw them the dough and then get yourself a code! Where there's a will...

Official press release after the jump.

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real world

ABC apologises for poor Fallout 3 discussion on 'Q&A'

Australian Post Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:29 AM on September 23, 2008

abc-qna.jpgRemember when we all watched with gaping maws at the ignorance of politicians and pundits on ABC1's Q&A program? Remember when Daniel Silk wrote a substantial letter of complaint to the ABC about how poorly the discussion was handled? Well Daniel has had something of a result from his letter, which led to an assessment of the program and an apology and admission that some of the remarks made by Tony Jones could be "confusing and misleading". A footnote has been added to the Q&A webpage for the particular program. It doesn't fix what went wrong on the night, but a GG to Daniel for raising the alarm in an official capacity -- and the Q&A team will probably be more careful to get things straight should gaming come up again in future.

The full reply letter to Daniel from the ABC after the jump. [Thanks to Daniel for sharing!]

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events

Blizzcon 2008 on Australian Pay-Per-View

Australian Post Posted by Seamus Byrne at 2:05 PM on September 19, 2008

MAINEVENTBLIZZCON.jpgBlizzcon 2008 is set to have 16 hours of coverage over two days on Main Event Pay-Per-View, available via Foxtel, Austar, or Optus. 'Blizzcon 2008 Live' will run 4am to 1pm on October 11-12, with repeat screening from 3pm to 12am both days. (That's 9 hours each day, not 8. Must have a break somewhere.) Interviews, presentations, tournaments, and panels galore. Price will be $14.95 per day, which puts the total at about the same as any typical PPV for the whole two days.

At first look, it seemed like we'd also be getting access to a special treat in the form of the BlizzCon 2008 World of Warcraft in-game polar bear mount (with mounted, flag-waving murloc), but that has since disappeared from the Main Event description, so it seems that was an overzealous cut and paste from the DirecTV version of the broadcast.

More details after the jump. [Thanks to Aaron for the hot tip!]

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real world

Lord British Visits The Colbert Report

Posted by Mike Fahey at 4:00 AM on September 19, 2008

There certainly is a large amount of gaming news relating to Comedy Central's cartoon character Stephen Colbert floating about these days, isn't there? While we eagerly await the announcement of the world's first video game based on a fake news personality, Stephen himself will be hobbing knobs with none other than game industry legend and Keeper of the Sacred Rattails Lord "Richard Garriott" British. British will be appearing on The Colbert Report this evening to discuss Operation Immortality, his DNA in space project that will eventually result in an evil Crecente clone army taking over the known universe. Luckily for us the question of "How do you really get to know a universe?" is still very much up in the air. Way up.

Be sure to set your favourite TV recording device to see if Colbert can possibly resist saying something about Garriott's magnificent hair.

Or hit the Colbert Nation website for full episodes on the web. That's what I do! -SB

real world

Gaming TV: Garriott on Colbert, Thompson on Bullshit!

Australian Post Posted by Seamus Byrne at 1:44 PM on September 18, 2008

oldtv.jpgTwo more TV quickies, if you're eager to see all your faves on the small screen. Along with the Harmonix appearance, Richard Garriott is schedule to appear on The Colbert Report on Wednesday night (so today our time). Colbert is apparently now participating in Garriott's Operation Immortality, so no doubt that will be a feature of the discussion. Meanwhile, fan favourite Jack Thompson is set to appear one place he won't be walking away a winner: Penn & Teller's Bullshit! Of all the places you can go to get your ass handed to you in an interview situation, that must be the worst. Doesn't stop self-righteous wankers from continuing to appear... they always think they have ironclad arguments that even Bullshit! can't dispel. No exact timing on when that one will air.
Richard Garriott to appear on The Colbert Report [Massively]
Jack Thompson to Appear on Showtime's Penn & Teller: Bullshit! [Game Politics]

humour

Harmonix Crew Appearing On Colbert Report Tonight

Posted by Stuart Houghton at 10:40 AM on September 18, 2008

Stephen Colbert will be playing host to some chaps from Harmonix as they give him a Rock Band 2 rendition of his song Charlene (I'm Right Behind You).

Eighties stalker anthem Charlene recently appeared as free Rock Band DLC.

The show will broadcast tonight (Wednesday 17th September) at 11:30 PM EST on Comedy Central.

You can check out a video of Stephen performing Charlene, in the actual nineteen eighties. It in no way resembles David Brent's Free Love On The Free Love Freeway, at least not in any way that is actionable in court.

RB2 on Colbert Report Tonight[Rockband.com]
(image: http://www.shipbrook.com/onnotice/)

massively multiplayer

Xfire Broadcasting WoW Raids

Posted by Stuart Houghton at 7:20 AM on September 18, 2008

Gamer's IM service Xfire is preparing to broadcast a World of Warcraft raid as a spectator event. Using a plugin for the Xfire client, up to 4,000 viewers will be able to watch and learn when the crack Nihilum guild launch an assault on the bastard-hard Sunwell Plateau.

The plugin uses multimedia sharing tech from Dyyno to allow viewers to switch between four different character POVs - Druid, Hunter, Warrior and Warlock.

This is the second such broadcast via Xfire — this event is expected to take up to four hours from start to finish. Numb bums all round, then, and this definitely qualifies as niche viewing. Mind you, 4,000 viewers is comparable to some bottom-feeding cable channels. If the tech was there, would you sit down and watch a WoW raid in prime time?


Xfire to broadcast WoW's Sunwell Plateau raid live
[Masively]