HOLLYWOOD LIBERATION ARMY

MACHINIMA GROWS WITH 'GOD OF WAR'

First EA paid the Red vs. Blue guys to create "The Strangerhood" machinima series to highlight its Sims 2 game, now Sony is getting into the machinima act with "Pimp My Weapon", a new machinima series intended to promote "God Of War".  Nice little trend developing here -- machinima series being bankrolled essentially as advertisements for the game.  I'm sure we'll see more of this.  Check out the first episode at Heavy.com, which I did not realize was even still around, so its certainly a coup for them as well.

Kotaku

KUMA INKS WITH UTA AKA THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND

Kuma, the company behind the 'reality Video game' "Kuma: War" has linked with UTA to "develop new entertainment concepts by marrying Kuma's unique episodic game production system with television properties."  Bullshit translator:  Kuma War sucks and they're desperate for other sources of revenue so they hired some slimeball Hollywood agents to try and scam a partner.  I've played Kuma.  What can I say.  The reality enviroment is cool.  BUT IT'S NO AMERICA ARMY!  The gameplay sux and I don't see a lot of 'support' for it from the fps community.  Survey Says: EHHH!!!

Hollywood Reporter

NINTENDO PLANS MOVIE MOVES

Video game firm Nintendo has plans to grow its presence in Hollywood by entering the CG feature production movie arena and by integrating its traditional products into the moviegoing experience, according to company executives.

Philly.com

LEE, GRAHAM GO ONLINE FOR SONY

Sony Online Entertainment has introduced Hollywood voice talent to its massively multiplayer online game "EverQuest II." Christopher Lee and Heather Graham headline a cast of 1,700 voice actors who will bring the adventure world to life.

Hollywood Reporter.com

MUSIC VIDEOS TAP VIDEO GAMES

Over the past few years, entertainment has become more incestuous than ever. Rock stars became actors, comic book characters morphed into title roles in blockbuster films and everyone involved goes to the same after-parties.

Now, the blending of popular culture has gone even further with a new MTV show of animated music videos featuring popular video game characters performing bands' songs.

Wired

DEUS EX MACHINIMA

Hollywood movies increasingly resemble computer games. Now a growing band of enthusiasts is using games to make films.

Economist

MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER 'CITY OF HEROES' FILM FESTIVAL

NCsoft have announced another contest in celebration of their successful MMORPG, City of Heroes. Those of you happily addicted to the game already know how much fun it can be. Now, however, you have a chance to make use of it in an entirely different way. Starting today, NCsoft is accepting submissions to its City of Heroes Film Festival Contest.

IGN

ADVERTISERS TAKE AIM AT GAMERS

"...New York-based start-up Massive Inc. has developed peer-to-peer software technology that allows advertisers to market a movie in online PC games when players who are most likely to see the flick are logged on. Massive's software, due to launch in October, will work with certain games from publishers like Atari (ATAR ), says Richard Skeen, Massive's vice-president for advertising sales..."

BusinessWeek

HLA: Sad, but inevitable...

GAME'S DEVELOPMENT MIRRORS MOVIE PREPRODUCTION

"BottleRocket Entertainment's video game "Rise of the Kasai" underwent a preproduction phase similar to a motion picture in which the development of characters and the pacing of the stories were the focus..."

Hollywood Reporter

E3: ACTIVISION GOES TO THE MOVIES

"Developed by UK-based Lionhead Studios, Activision's new simulation game, The Movies, which is expected to ship for PS2, Xbox, GameCube and PC in 2005, allows anyone to run their own motion picture studio. It's a detailed simulation that comes packed with the rich history of Hollywood, which allows players to micromanage every detail of launching a brand new movie studio, right down to placating incorrigible actresses, dealing with directors who've gone over budget and planning the marketing campaign of a new movie franchise. The game spans the life of the studio from the silent film era to today's special effects induced blockbusters. Players are rewarded for innovation, whether it's the introduction of sound to black-and-white movies or the first on-screen kiss.

For those movie buffs not interested in the day-to-day minutia of running a studio, the game provides a detailed component that allows anyone to direct a short feature film from any film era and genre-complete with set construction, wardrobe design, prop selection, script revision and multiple camera angles. The average virtual film will take between two minutes and 20 minutes to complete..."

Gamers.com

HLA: Mentioned this earlier, but there's more in this article. Apparently, they are going to seriously push the ability to make a movie with this game and will setup a site for downloading and exchange of movies made by this game. Sounds interesting.