|
 News
Week
of October 9 - October 15, 2000
[Thursday,
October 12, 2000]
Arcade
Injunction Denied
A federal judge has denied a request from arcade industry lawyers for
an injunction to keep Indianapolis arcade restrictions from going into
effect. The amusement machine industry had hoped to keep the Indianapolis
rules from going into effect pending the resolution of the case, not at
least to dissuade other cities from enacting similar measures before the
courts have a chance to rule on the legality of the matter. ""It
would be an odd conception of the First Amendment," said Judge David
Hamilton in denying the injunction, "that would allow a state to
prevent a boy from purchasing a magazine containing pictures of topless
women in provocative poses, but give that same boy a constitutional right
to train to become a sniper at the local arcade without his parent's permission."
The Indianapolis restrictions are set to begin October 12, though lawyers
for the amusement machine industry are seeking an emergency injunction
while they appeal the rejection of the preliminary injunction.
Hasbro
Cuts
Hasbro is cutting revenue forecasts and jobs, and some of the problems
may be related to its videogame business. The company plans to shed up
to 550 jobs in an effort to offset weaker than expected earnings, closing
offices in Cincinnati, Napa, and San Francisco. Hasbro is citing a number
of factors for its poor performance, including soft demand for Star Wars
and Pokemon toys. Hasbro is also identifying poor results in the interactive
entertainment market and with its Games.com online gaming portal, and
is considering alternative strategies for its interactive businesses.
[Wednesday, October
11, 2000]
New
Laws
Lawsuits are still pending in Indianapolis, but two more cities are planning
similar measures. Choosing not to wait for a court to rule on the legality
of recent ordinances placing restrictions on arcade games with mature
content, officials in Chicago and St. Louis are moving ahead with legislation
closely resembling the Indianapolis ordinance. As in Indianapolis, both
cities are planning to keep younger gamers from playing, or even seeing,
titles that are deemed to feature mature content.
[Tuesday, October
10, 2000]
Infogrames
Results
Infogrames GT acquisition is hurting it bottom line. Though the takeover
of GT Interactive is allow Infogrames to report a 70 percent increase
in revenues for the financial year ended June 30, $30.1 million in North
American losses for the period easily wipe out net income of $9.3 million
the company managed in Europe. All together, Infogrames is reporting a
net loss of 26.4 million on revenues of $498.4 million for the fiscal
year.
THQ
Extends Nickelodeon
THQ and Nickelodeon are extending their licensing agreement beyond Rugrats.
THQ has grabbed the rights to create interactive games based on the popular
Saturday morning shows Sponge Bob Square Pants and Rocket Power. "Nickelodeon
remains one of the most innovative kids' programming creators in the business,"
said THQ's Germaine Gioia, "The unique characters of SpongeBob SquarePants
and Rocket Power provide the perfect foundation for games kids of all
ages will love to play over and over again." The deal runs through 2004.
[Monday, October
9, 2000]
Geller
Joins SPDEE
Ron Geller is joining Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment -Europe as Senior
Vice President. Geller joins SPDEE from Sony Pictures Europe, and is charged
with the task of expanding Sony's online and interactive entertainment
offering for European markets. "I look forward to expanding our digital
entertainment assets into Europe, as well as developing several Europe-
specific initiatives which capitalize on the unique digital infrastructure
developments found in this part of the world," said Geller.
No
Eidos Sale
Eidos is finally putting an end to takeover rumors. The company caused
a stir four months ago when it announced that it was is negotiations for
a possible sale. Though prospective suitors were never named, most industry
watched pinned Infogrames as the likely buyer. CTW is now reporting that
Eidos has officially ended negotiations and will not sell. "Following
the announcement on June 20th that it was in early stage discussions which
might or might not lead to an offer for the whole of the issued share
capital of Eidos, the board of Eidos announces that these discussions
have now terminated. The Board gave the approach serious consideration,
but concluded that the terms did not represent fair value for shareholders,"
reads a statement from Eidos.
Past
News
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
