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by
Daniel Huebner and Jennifer Olsen
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 News
Week
of October 30 - November 4, 2000
[Thursday,
November 2, 2000]
PS2
Tariff Debate
Sony is pushing the United Kingdom to re-classify the Playstation 2 for
tax purposes. Sony would like to see the machine classified as a computer,
thus avoiding the higher tariffs imposed on products classified as videogames.
Costums officials denied an earlier request from Sony to consider the
console to be a computer on the grounds that the Playstation 2 was not
significantly different from its predecessor. The original Playstation
was classified as a videogame. "We may consider appealing to an international
organisation, possibly the World Trade Organisation, although that is
a long way ahead," said a Sony Computer Entertainment spokesperson.
Activison
Gets Tenchu
Activison is acquiring the Tenchu franchise from Sony. Activison
has entered into an agreement to acquire woldwide intellectual property
rights to the best selling game series from Sony Music Entertainment.
"Tenchu remains the leading franchise in the action-stealth
genre," said Activision President Ron Doornink, "The acquisition
of this property further underscores Activision's commitment to brands
that can be market leaders across all platforms." Activisoin is planning
to release a new Tenchu game for Playstation 2.
Minesweeper
Math
A British mathematics professor believes Minesweeper could help
to solve one of the fields most perplexing problems. Richared Kaye, of
the University of Birmingham, believes that Minesweeper might lead
to a solution to the P versus NP problem. According to Kaye, an algorithm
for determining all combination of mine placement in an enlarged game
of Minesweeper would also solve the P versus NP problem. "It's
surprising that such a simple game would put us at such a frontier of
mathematics. But the big questions in math are not very far below the
surface of everyday life."
[Wednesday,
November 1, 2000]
Sega
Shifts Gears
Sega plans to address its recent financial woes by shifting its focus
from hardware to software. The company is taking the wraps off an ambitious
plan to boost its share of the videogame software market to 25 percent.
Sega currently holds a 4.2 share, with Nintendo leading the industry with
a 19.6 percent share. Sega's plans to reach that goal include providing
software for rival consoles and licensing Dreamcast technology to makers
of PCs and cell phones. "We aim to win the top share of the world
market in the near future by increasing the number of platforms which
can operate Sega software,'' explained Sega's Strategic Counsel Tetsu
Kayama, "Our focus on content provision is back in place. Sega aims
to become a real game creator." To that end, Sega is looking to overhaul
its software development operation, including redirecting more than $200
million in investment funds from third-parties back to its own internal
developers. Sega hopes these moves will put the company back into the
black as soon as next year.
Edios
CEO Adios
Eidos Chief Executive Officer Charles Cornwall is leaving the company.
Cornwall's departure closely follows that of CFO Jeremy Lewis, who quit
last month. Statements from the company have both Cornwall and Lewis leaving
amicably to pursue other interests. COO Michael McGarvey will take up
Cornwall's CEO role, and Eidos is still in search of a new CFO. "I
believe that Mike McGarvey is one of the most talented and capable executives
in the interactive industry and as a shareholder I have every faith in
his ability to optimize the company's development in the future,"
said departing CEO Charles Cornwall.
Mical
Joins Red Jade
Amiga and 3DO veteran RJ Mical is joining Red Jade. Mical will join the
wireless entertainment start-up to identify technical objectives for the
company and to lead internal and external software groups. Mical's previous
roles include the co-invention of the 3DO gaming platform, co-creation
of the Lynx handheld game system, and leading the software engineering
team for Amiga. "Mical's extensive experience and proven track record
will be invaluable to the development of our product," said Red Jade
CEO Gunnar Tyrsing, "His history with bleeding-edge interactive entertainment
hardware and software companies contributes to his profound understanding
of what consumers are looking for in the future." Red Jade is developing
a mobile, wireless hardware platform that combines games, music, and PDA
functions.
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