AUG. 13, 2008 • Despite current market share prices higher than the price guaranteed to Activision Inc. shareholders prior to the Activision Blizzard merger, Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Co. advised Activision Blizzard that 86,000 shares had been properly tendered. That number, in the amount of $2.37 million, i.....

AUG. 11, 2008 • Top South Korean MMO publisher Yedang Online enters into a strategic partnership with Toronto-based start-up Wicked Interactive for the latter to publish Yedang’s primary properties in North America. Games expected to be released by Wicked include Priston Tale, Priston Tale II, and Ace Online. Impact: Yedang has been publishing online games in South Korea since 1999.  Like most Korean publishers a high prior.....

AUG. 7, 2008 • Warner Music chief executive Edgar Bronfman said that video game publishers should expect to pay more to license popular music in the future for titles like Guitar Hero. “The amount being paid to the music industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small,” Bronfman said. Impact: Success will always bring in people that want a larger piece of the p.....

AUG. 6, 2008 • World of Warcraft launches in Russia. The game is available with a fully localized version of the MMO, playable on Russian servers, and supported by a Russian-language customer service staff. Impact: WoW had been localized for English, French, G.....

JULY 31, 2008 • Football Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown has gone to state court in New York seeking an injunction against Electronic Arts to cease using his likeness in Madden NFL games. Sony Computer Ent. was also named in the lawsuit, although neither Nintendo of America or Microsoft Ent. – whose platforms also have Madden NFL titles – were named. Brown claims he has received no compensation for use of his likeness in the game. Impact: EA&.....

JULY 30, 2008 • Jumping into iPhone publishing, id Software has two titles in development for the popular cell phone. The first game is a version of the existing Doom 2 for mobile phones.  The second title is an iPhone-specific project called Wolfenstein RPG. Impact: Apple reported that the new iPhone 3G sold over 1 million units in the first three days after its July release. It took 74 days for the first iPhone to reach that mark.  Clearly there.....

JULY 30, 2008 • For the first fiscal quarter ending June 30, Sony Corp. reported that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) saw its sales rise 16.8% to $2.14 billion based on increased sales of its PS3 and PSP hardware compared to the previous year.  More importantly SCE reported operating income of over $50 million, versus a loss of over $250 million for the previous quarter.  Software sales for the PS3 were up 385% to 22.8 million. Impact: According.....

JULY 28, 2008 • The HD-TV format may be officially dead, but that hasn’t stopped Shanghai United Optical Disc from establishing its first production line for China Blue High-Definition Disc (CBHD), an off-shoot of HD-DVD. The primary difference in formats is that CBHD will use .....