ENTERTAINMENT
March 4, 2014 | By Dawn C. Chmielewski
As a child, Shannon Studstill sold gum to her classmates to finance her weekly trips to the video game arcade. That early investment in "Pac-Man" and "Defender" would pay huge dividends. Studstill, one of the most powerful women in the male-dominated world of video games, now runs Sony Santa Monica Studio, the development group responsible for the company's hit franchise "God of War" and the publisher of such critically acclaimed independent titles as "Journey. " The 43-year-old executive is an anomaly in an industry known for its underrepresentation of women.
SPORTS
February 27, 2014 | Nathan Fenno
Electronic Arts Sports and the Collegiate Licensing Co. wanted to use the names and likenesses of college athletes in video games, according to an NCAA document unsealed in federal court Wednesday. The report was among hundreds of pages of documents that U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ordered to be made fully or partially public in the long-running antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA fronted by former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon. The case is scheduled for trial in June and, in the interim, the document dump provides another window into the often contentious issues of amateurism and compensation raised by the case.
ENTERTAINMENT
February 24, 2014 | By Carolyn Kellogg
The book "Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation" by Blake Harris will be published in May. And it's already headed to the big screen, thanks to Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Variety reports that Rogen and Goldberg are planning to co-direct and adapt " Console Wars ," which tells the real-life story behind the video game industry in the 1990s. It Books will publish the 576-page look at video games on May 13. It's Harris' debut -- and comes with a prologue by, coincidentally, Goldberg and Rogen.
BUSINESS
February 6, 2014 | By David Lazarus
Eugene is thinking about buying an Xbox One game console. but he's worried about extra charges if the device turns out to be all buggy. Buggy tech is a worry shared by most users. You think everything should be running smoothly because a gadget is new, and it turns out the software still needs patching. ASK LAZ: Smart answers to consumer questions A game console is basically a personal computer in new clothes, so it's a very real concern that something can go kerblooey on the coding level.
ENTERTAINMENT
January 28, 2014 | By Carolyn Kellogg
Humble Bundle is one of those websites trying to make optimal use of our digital world. It combines downloads with a pay-what-you-like system that funnels money to charity. And for the first time, it's trying its hand at audiobooks. This is how it works. Every week or two, Humble Bundle makes a set -- bundle -- of digital downloads freely available. Downloaders are asked to pay what they like: what they think the downloads are worth, what they can afford, an amount that represents their appreciation of the creator.
ENTERTAINMENT
January 16, 2014 | By Dawn C. Chmielewski
The new Xbox One and PlayStation 4 fueled a 50% spike in video game console sales in December, compared with a year earlier, as enthusiasts rushed to buy the latest systems. Micrososoft's Xbox One was the top-selling console in December, but Sony's rival PS4 sold more units since the November launch of the new systems, according to newly released figures from the NPD Group. "The newest consoles from Microsoft and Sony are off to a tremendous start," said NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan.