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.

Three gamers in Indiana set out on a special quest Friday afternoon: to marathon through seven Super Mario games while streaming a video of the process live onto the web in an effort to raise money for the charity, Child’s Play. The charity, created by the gaming community, donates books, toys, and games to children’s hospitals across America. That weekend, Brian Brinegar, Dan May, and John Groth decided to power through nearly 48 hours of the classic Mario games, from Super Mario Brothers to Super Mario Galaxy, ending at 2:47 PM, EST. While saving their princesses, the trio raised over $10,000, blowing right through their original goal of $1,500. With over 500 contributions and thousands of watchers, the Mario men won their viewers’ hearts and support by sticking to their goal, and doing it with style; even getting 120 stars at the strike of midnight in their “post-show” pushed the donations to over $11,000. Cheers to their successful trip through the evolution of Mario!

Do you have an idea you think would be a great panel discussion at next year’s SXSW ScreenBurn game conference? The online panel submission process for SXSW Interactive + ScreenBurn 2009 in in progress and we will continue to take submissions through Friday, July 11. Programming ideas submitted via this interface will be posted on the SXSW Panel Picker, thereby allowing our community to vote on which ideas they feel are most appropriate for 2009. Click here for more information on how to submit your gaming-related panel idea for 2009.

At the recent Social Gaming Summit, a panel led by Daniel James and Cary Rozenzweig from Puzzle Pirates and IMVU, respectively, discussed the importance of simpler interfaces for users to generate content (such as personal avatars and environments). “The more tools that you provide can lead to richer behavior, but often it’s the simpler things that people enjoy most,” said James, CEO of Three Rings. By providing the users the ability to easily manipulate their virtual world, massively multiplayer online games could draw in a larger demographic of people to participate. Whether players want to expand their creative ideas by playing for hours or simply to relax for a couple of minutes after work, developers should give all players the equal opportunity to build their ‘virtual space’ just the way they like it.

The estate of “Godfather” creator Mario Puzo is suing Paramount Pictures for breach of contract over proceeds from the video game based on the 1972 movie. According to document filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday, Puzo’s son and estate executor, Anthony, claims the video game falls under a 1992 agreement struck between Paramount and Puzo that promised him a “significant share” of “audiovisual” products derived from his creation. “In material breach of the audio-visual products agreement, Paramount has failed and refused to pay the Puzo Estate the sums due it in respect of the Godfather game,” said the court filing. Puzo, who died in 1999, originally sold the film rights to his Corleone saga to Paramount for a relatively low sum because he was a struggling, unknown author at the time. In 2006 Paramount licensed Electronic Arts to create a video game based on the characters and story lines of the movie. The $1 million suit claims that , because the game uses character created by Mario Puzo, his estate is due a portion of the proceeds under the 1992 agreement. “You hear them. You see them. That’s audiovisual to me,” said the estate’s lawyer, Bert Fields.

Becoming the hero of your favorite game just got one step closer. DFKI, a team of programmers from Germany, successfully altered the Wii Balance Board to control game characters in the ever-popular online game, World of Warcraft. In the YouTube video demonstration, game characters are moved through the world by surfing on the board that senses the direction the player shifts his weight towards. Although only simple movements have been harnessed at the moment, The Gaming Dungeon sees this accomplishment as a “promising” crossover of console to PC; also, it allows the normal sit-down computer gamers to get on their feet. If Nintendo picks up on this innovative idea, gamers may soon be able to not only slash enemies with the Wiimote, but also run and jump through their favorite RPG and adventure game worlds.

The overwhelming popularity of play along games like Rock Band (MTV Games/Harmonix) and Guitar Hero (Activision) isn’t just a boon for the video game industry, it seems to be breathing a little life back into the music business as well. These games not only provide a new, and younger, audience for older, established rock acts like Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones and Metallica, newer acts like Coldplay and Radiohead are also utilizing the platform to reach broader markets. In addition to the song downloads for the games themselves (”Rock Band” recently passed the 12 million mark), since downloads cannot be transferred to a CD or mp3 player, players are going to other sources to download copies for their personal use. With almost one third of surveyed players reporting that they purchased songs featured on Rock Band and Guitar Hero, all this is adding up to big money for the music business.

Do you have an idea you think would be a great panel discussion at next year’s SXSW ScreenBurn game conference? The online panel submission process for SXSW Interactive + ScreenBurn 2009 has begun, and we will continue to take submissions through Friday, July 11. Programming ideas submitted via this interface will be posted on the SXSW Panel Picker, thereby allowing our community to vote on which ideas they feel are most appropriate for 2009. Click here for more information on how to submit your gaming-related panel idea for 2009.