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

Variety announced Sunday that Paramount Pictures has snatched up the rights for a biopic about Atari creator Nolan Bushnell. You remember Pong? That was him. Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to star and will also serve as the movie’s producer under his Appian Way shingle. When asked in a recent interview with MTV Multiplayer if he ever thought he would be portrayed in a movie by the kid from Titanic, Bushnell laughed, “No. I’m very, very thrilled and honored that would be the case.”

This isn’t the first time Bushnell has been approached for the rights to his story, but when approached by writers Brian Hecker and Craig Sherman he said he “felt that these guy got it in a very, very real way and [knew] what Atari stood for.” He said always thought a movie about his life might happen. “I kind of thought that it wouldn’t happen until maybe after I was in the ground for a little while. [laughs]”

CEO Ignacio Cavero of LemonQuest, a Spanish firm seriously investing in iPhone game development, predicts iPhone games will cost about 17 to 18 Euros per game (running around $28 USD per game). PockerGamer.biz further confirms “Apple has remained tight-lipped about its pricing policy for iPhone games, in advance of the launch of its Application Store next week, at its WWDC Show. Cavero says LemonQuest will be presenting its first iPhone game at the show. “I can’t say much about it, but it’s very exciting,” he says. “We’ve got a big UK licence, and we’re using all the capabilities of the iPhone.” This initially seems to be a steep price to pay for games on an iPhone, but the reasoning is due to costly platform development. Cavero forecasts, “In the end, the market’s going to pay for it. At the same time, we will see some publishers and developers who won’t be able to make this step forwards, so it will be limited to a small group of companies. But we have some other developers coming from PC games and getting into this new generation of mobile games.”

Here are some disturbing statistics from a National Constitution Center survey: more American teenagers know the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air than know the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (94.7% to 2.2%), know which city has the zip code “90210″ than the city in which the U.S. Constitution was written (75% to 25%), and more American teenagers know the star of the motion picture “Titanic” than know the Vice President of the United States (90% to 74%). “Only one-third of Americans can name the three branches of government, but two-thirds can name a judge on American Idol,” said Sandra Day O’Connor during her closing keynote address for last weekend’s 5th annual Games For Change Conference hosted by Parsons The New School For Design. The former Supreme Court Justice took the opportunity to talk about a project she has been working on to change those rather sad facts, an online digital game called “Our Courts”, geared at teaching civics to middle-schoolers.

Acknowledging the educational power of video games, O’Connor worked with University of Wisconsin-Madison professor James Paul Gee to create “Our Courts.” The effort is composed of two parts: an online curriculum for educators and an online video game for students to use in their free time. Both services will be free to the public. According to the “Our Courts” website, the game “will create problems that will challenge students to think critically, and debate rationally and respectfully, about important issues of the day in light of the lessons of history.”

“We can’t forget that the primary purpose of public schools in America is to produce citizens who have the skills and knowledge to sustain our form of government,” said O’Connor. “Public education is the only longterm solution to preserving an independent judiciary and constitutional democracy.”

I’ve always wanted a vintage Ms. Pac Man Sit Down Arcade, but what if games were incorporated into modern furniture that was a little more functional when the game’s over? Check out Moritz Waldemeyer’s Pong Table, created for the Modern Museum of Art’s elasticmind exhibit. With 2400 LEDs combined with two track pads, it produces a live Pong Effect right on your tabletop. You can turn off the LEDs when you’re finished to have dinner with the family. Game and dine, or dine and game.

Robots may not be stealing your luggage, but they are playing Guitar Hero. Previous incarnations of Guitar Hero playing robots, like one called Guitar Heronoid created by Garage Geeks Rafael Mizrahi and Tal Chalozin, have been designed to directly interfacing with the game. Recent Minnesota West Technical & Community College graduate Pete Nikrin has taken it one step further. Developed as part his second year project, Nirkin’s robot utilizes an “eye” connected to a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) to actually “see” the notes on the screen. The information is then relayed to solenoids which trigger the robot’s fingers to push the buttons on the controller. Nirkin’s robot may not be as accomplished a player as his friend who inspired the project, but it has achieved an impressive 90% proficiency when playing in the “Easy” mode. Nirkin and his robotics instructor Bill Manor are still working to improve the robot’s response time and, as an added bonus, give the would-be hero a characteristic rock star “swagger.” Nigel Tufnel look out.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has announced the 12 research teams, out of 112 entires, that will receive research grants for use of video games as healthcare tools. In January of this year the foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio launched Health Games Research: Advancing Effectiveness of Interactive Games for Health, “a national program that supports research to enhance the quality and impact of computer and video games that are used to improve health.” As part of the $8.28 million national program, Health Games Research has awarded roughly $2 million in its first round of grants to 12 universities across the country to conduct one to two-years studies centered on their proposals. “Research has shown you can learn whatever a video game offers. The question is, what are you going to teach?” comments Communications researcher at the University of California and program director, Debra Lieberman, Ph.D. “The neat thing about a video game is that it involves a challenge to reach a goal. That’s why we get hooked on games. That’s why we love to play them,” Lieberman said. “We’re always striving to do better and better.”

Some of the winning proposals include developing new games like Breath Biofeedback Video Game for Children with Cystic Fibrosis (University of Vermont, School of Medicine), which uses a breath controller and video game software to help cystic fibrosis patients manage their condition and maintain better health, and BloomingLife: The Skeleton Chase (Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation), an “ARG designed to promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles among college freshmen.” Others propose research projects based around using existing games to enhance treatment and understanding of specific health concerns like Action Video Games to Improve Everyday Cognitive Function in Older Adults (University of Florida, College of Public Health and Health Professions) will examine the effects of action driving games, specifically PS2’s “Crazy Taxi”, on adults 65 and older.

Former SXSW panelist Henry Jenkins will serve as a keynote speaker at the
The Games for Change Conference, held June 2-4 at Parsons the New School for Design in New York City, will feature an opening keynote conversation with Jim Gee and former SXSW panelist Henry Jenkins. This annual event brings together game designers, non profits, educators and activists to examine the growing influence of games as an instrument of social change. Jenkins, along with prolific author Steven Johnson, delivered the Opening Remarks at the 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival. Click here to listen to the podcast of their talk.

Other Games for Change Conference speakers include SXSW Interactive alums Suzanne Seggerman, Games for Change, Mary Flanagan, Tiltfactor Lab, author Heather Chaplin and Chris Swain, EA Innovation Lab, who’s 2008 SXSW ScreenBurn Panel, Games for Change: Real World Games with Real World Impact, explored “the new uses of game technology for political participation and the social good.” Be sure to check the Podcast Page for all the latest 2008 SXSW Panel Podcast releases.

Sales of the latest installment of the hugely popular Grand Theft Auto franchise (GTA4) may be soaring, but that doesn’t mean everyone who worked on the game is enjoying the spoils. Recently voice actor Michael Hollick, who voiced GTA4 protagonist Niko Bellic, spoke out about the long standing inequities between actors who lend their talents to the videos game industry and their counterparts in the film, television and commercial world. According to the New York TImes, “Had this been a television program, a film, an album, a radio show or virtually any other sort of traditional recorded performance, Mr. Hollick and the other actors in the game would have made millions by now. As it stands, they get nothing beyond the standard Screen Actors Guild day rate they were originally paid.” In Mr. Hollick’s case that translates to a flat rate of about $100,000 for 15 months of voice and motion capture work with no provision for residuals or promotional use of his voice. That may sound like a lot, but considering GTA4 earned $500 million in it’s first week of sales alone, the imbalance becomes a little more obvious.

“Obviously, I’m incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity,” said Hollick. “But it’s tough, when you see Grand Theft Auto IV out there as the biggest thing going right now, when they’re making hundreds of millions of dollars, and we don’t see any of it.” Hollick points to issues with how the Screen Actor’s Guild structures it’s contracts in regards to electronic media such as video games. “I don’t blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games.” Yes, the technology is important, but it’s the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies.”

This issue will no doubt play an important role in the negotiations between producers and the Guild set for this summer. The New York Times reports that many predict “an actors’ strike to parallel the writers’ strike last year, which revolved around similar issues.”

You might want to get in line now at your local video game retailer. The much anticipated Wii Fit is due to hit stores nationwide tomorrow, Wednesday, May 21.
If the public response to the new game at Nintendo’s day-long launch event held in New York’s Central Park on Monday are any indication, the $90 wireless “balance board” with on-screen exercise and balance games will reach an even broader audience than the original console. With pre-lauch sales on Amazon.com and other retailer websites already sold out, and 2 millions units already sold in Japan, the Wii Fit is poised to initially sell about 3 million units, according to Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, significantly boosting monthly sales of the original Wii console.

Sony incorporates YouTube uploads into PSN/PS3 in efforts to build community between PlayStation 3 players. Joystiq reports that Sony Computer Entertainment is utilizing tools that will allow developers to permit YouTube video uploads into their game interfaces. In supported titles this will allow players to upload game footage to YouTube directly from inside the game as well. The first game to have this feature will be Mainichi Issho. You can capture in-game video and share it with the world through YouTube, so you best practice your skills.