‘Dark Knight’ Producer to Launch New Franchise as Pachinko Machine. Hollywood has long turned to novels, comicbooks, toys and videogames as sources for films and TV shows, but could Japan’s Pachinko games be next? “The Dark Knight” trilogy’s executive producer Michael Uslan and his son David Uslan have partnered with Icon Pictures president Takeshi Hirota to launch “Dark Eye” as a new superhero property first as a Pachinko game before turning it into a TV show and film. Idea is to introduce it to U.S. audiences once the character and conceit has been set up in Japan and established a fanbase. “Once it’s recognized in the Japanese market, we will then bring it to the U.S. market,” Hirota told Variety. Created by “Iron Man” co-creators Bob Layton and David Michelinie, “Dark Eye” follows the chairman of a powerful company who has two secrets: he is a hybrid human and the notorious crime fighter Night Striker.
Above (from left to right): Icon Pictures’ Takuya Wada and Takeshi Hirota, David Uslan, and Bob Layton. There’s also the financial upside. World of WarCraft- need to hold viewer attention. While Activision Blizzard can regularly tout the success of franchises like “Call of Duty” and “Skylanders,” it’s seeing more gamers leave its “World of Warcraft” as competition heats up in the videogames biz. “World of Warcraft” counted 7.7 million subscribers, as of June 30, making Blizzard Entertainment’s fantasy game the No. 1 subscription-based MMORPG.
But that’s down from a high of 12 million in 2010, and 8.3 million in the first quarter, which was down from 9.6 million in the prior three-month period. The numbers are worrying for a company that has long considered “World of Warcraft” one of its biggest cash cows, if not the largest, steadily delivering profits and consistent revenue stream. But Activision believes the release of additional downloads to the game will keep existing gamers happy. The first film based on the property that Legendary Entertainment is producing, could also help attract new players. SEE ALSO: Comic-Con: ‘World of Warcraft’ Movie to Film in 2014. Nintendo vs XBox and PlayStation. Nintendo will drop the price of its Wii U videogame console by $50 next month as Microsoft and Sony plan to launch the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in November.
The Wii U will be priced at $299.99 starting Sept. 20. The company also announced it will release a 2D version of its popular 3DS handheld gaming system on Oct. 12, priced at $129.99. System is meant to be an entry level portable gaming system that will play all 3DS and DS games, clearly aimed at younger gamers. The handheld has been a strong seller of both hardware and software for the company.
New device will launch with the release of the “Pokemon X” and “Pokemon Y” games. Nintendo has been looking for ways for its Wii U to emerge from the shadow of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launches, and sees the price cut as a way to make its console more attractive to casual gamers. The company only sold 160,000 units during the first quarter (April through June) and reached the 3.6 million mark around the world as of late July.
Angry Birds Star Wars II. After the first mash-up of “Angry Birds” with Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars” was downloaded over 100 million times, Rovio Entertainment and Lucasfilm are ready with a sequel to keep their new franchise fresh, and will release “Angry Birds Star Wars II” on Sept. 19. The new game will follow the story of the three prequel “Star Wars” movies, including the introduction of new “Angry Birds” characters like young Anakin, Mace Windu and Darth Maul. Players will also get to choose to “join the pork side” and play as one of the villainous pigs. Hasbro will produce a line of Telepods figures for the game, that unlock new characters and super powers by placing one of them on the phone or tablet camera and scanning it into the game.
Over 30 figures will be available at launch in September. Characters are similar to the figures used to play Activision’s “Skylanders” and Disney’s upcoming “Disney Infinity.” News of the sequel comes as Comic-Con International kicks off in San Diego this week. Disney’s ‘Where’s My...Franchise. Mickey Mouse is ready to go mobile, with the Disney icon getting his own version of the company’s popular “Where’s My Water?” Game that launches June 20.
The game is not only the latest spinoff of Disney Mobile Game’s franchise, but will serve as a new way to introduce Mickey Mouse to younger audiences. The look of Mickey in the game will closely resemble a redesigned version of the character that will star in Disney Television Animation’s new “Mickey Mouse Cartoon Shorts,” premiering June 28 in the U.S. on Disney Channel. The character is meant to be a younger, more modern interpretation of the mouse that better reflects his pluckier personality seen in the black and white shorts when he debuted in 1928’s “Steamboat Willie.” With the game, producers wanted to embrace the new look and integrate the humor of the shorts in their game to create a more unified game and character that would be embraced by fans. Other characters like Goofy and Pluto will also appear in the game.
Candy Crush #1 Game on FaceBook. Xbox Music App Now Available on iPhone, Android Devices. Nvidia's New Hybrid Handheld Gaming Device Shield. 8 Predictions On the Future of Digital Publishing. We've reached the digital frontier of book publishing, but the implications of living in this new territory are not yet fully understood. If anything's certain it's that the next couple decades will see major changes in how we think of books, publishing, marketing, and maybe even writing itself.
Here are eight of my predictions about the future of digital publishing. 1. eBooks will become "normal. " We've already seen a transition from eBooks being that strange and threatening outside force to eBooks being an accepted part of society that many youngsters and a fair handful of oldsters enjoy. While there are plenty of holdouts—both on the consumer and publisher end of the spectrum—they're gradually giving in or retiring. 2. In his fantastic keynote address at the 2013 London Book Fair, Neil Gaiman told the anecdote of a man who stocked up on calendars from 1993.
"I worry that too many of us," said Gaiman, "are certain that if only we can get 1993 to come back again, we’ll clean up. " 3. 4. Ten Bold Predictions for Ebooks and Digital Publishing in 2013. Kindle as Magic 8 Ball. Illustration by Todd Goldstein Another exciting year for the publishing industry is in the books, so to speak. The ebook and digital publishing landscape changed drastically yet again. In 2012, Amazon and other retailers gained control over ebook pricing at three major publishers, ebook revenue growth hit an inflection point, and a parade of non-book-publishing companies entered the ebook business.
Nobody saw it coming. Well, almost nobody. Seeing as though 2012 is just about over, we’ve gathered more publishing experts to predict what extraordinary events are to come in book publishing in 2013. — For more insights into the ebook and digital publishing future, attend Digital Book World Conference + Expo in New York, Jan. 15 – 18 — 1. One of the biggest news items of the year was the proposed merger between Penguin and Random House. But it’s often forgotten that this year and last year were relatively big years for financial activity in publishing. So why this year?