The 2008 ScreenBurn Festival
March 7 - 11, 2008
Austin, Texas

Dust off those running shoes - or rather, stretch out those thumbs - and get ready to be a part of the Olympic action this summer. Saga has announced the release Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with a Windows based PC version set to follow later this month. Developed for Saga by Eurocom Entertainment Software and rated “E” for everyone, Beijing 2008 features over 35 events for the upcoming Olympic games including such track and field stand-bys as the 100m, Hurdles for men and women, the Shot Put, Pole Vault and the Javelin Throw. Online functionality will also allow gamers to compete with each other across the globe. The game carries a retail price of $49.95 in North America ($29.95 for the PC Version) and will offer an early look at many of the official venues.

With 3D movie popularity on the rise, it’s almost not a surprise that the gaming industry are trying to go beyond their 3D graphics into a true three dimensions. Turns out, this week Microsoft revealed that they have been dabbling in the area. GamesIndustry.biz nabbed an exclusive interview with XNA’s general manager, Chris Satchell, who spoke their progress. “This is a very interesting area of graphics technology,” he says. “We have done experiments with this at Microsoft and the results are extremely interesting.”. Unfortunately, one of their biggest concerns is that the games require 3D headgear, which probably won’t go smoothly for gamers and may lose the market. However, Microsoft won’t back down yet. “There is some very interesting technology being developed that can overcome this obstacle and it will be interesting to see where this leads,” says Satchell. “I love that some developers are experimenting along this path. It is a great way to move industry technology forward.”

After over forty thousand blog comments, some motherly (Mormon) prayer and careful selection of five lucky numbers between one and 42,232, five blog followers have new Nintendo Wii’s in their homes. Well-known blogger of dooce.com and past SXSW Interactive speaker, Heather B. Armstrong, held a contest on her blog comment section to giveaway five Wii systems after holding a Wii Fit party at her home. Armstrong recalls her “job was to gather up ten of my friends and prepare them to be humiliated by their Wii Fit age, something determined by your BMI/weight, your age, and some balancing acts that would cause a veteran circus performer to fall over.” Everyone in attendance was surprised their Wii Fit age, determined with a balance board and a game console, was older than they expected. After sharing Wii Fit with her friends, she was given five Wii consoles to give away on her blog with a little help from Mom.