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DVR on Xbox, More Broadband

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 January 2007, 15:00 CST

By LOU KESTEN

News from the virtual world:

-TV ON THE CONSOLE: Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates had a busy weekend, popping up via satellite at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and delivering the keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Gates was promoting his vision of a world where every electronic device you own - from your computer and your TV to your cell phone and your car - is connected.

"The digital decade is happening," he crowed.

For gamers, the big news is that you'll be able to use your Xbox 360 as a digital video recorder. Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment devices division, joined Gates in Vegas to unveil the console's new IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) service, which will let you download and record TV shows while you're playing "Halo" or other games on Xbox Live. The service will be available by the end of the year, but if you'll be able to receive it will depend on your Internet service provider.

-GAME SHOW: One of our favorite new toys of the last few years is Turner Broadcasting System's GameTap, the service that delivers classic video games (not to mention new episodes of the delightful "Sam & Max") to our PC. Now another cable TV company, Showtime Networks Inc., is looking to get into the act with a similar service called On Broadband.

The Showtime service, a joint venture with game publisher Broadband Libraries LLC, will offer games that can be downloaded or played online, as well as game reviews and tips. Some material will be free and some will be available for purchase, and subscriptions will be available. The service won't bear the Showtime name; instead, it will be branded with the name of your local broadband provider. Showtime didn't give any hints about specific games, though we're really hoping for one based on "The L Word."

-BOOM! POW! Kolton Mahoney, a 14-year-old in Layton, Utah, got a surprise Christmas morning when he tried to play the copy of "Madden NFL 07" he'd received from his uncle. Instead of good, clean gridiron action, Kolton got an eyeful of pornography.

"This is definitely not Madden," Kolton said he thought to himself - and thank goodness for that, because explicit images of John Madden could scar a boy for life.

The package was factory-sealed before Kolton opened it, and the disc reportedly bore an embossed "Madden" label, so the source of the smut remains a mystery. "The hard part will be finding out who did it," Lt. Rhett McQuiston of Utah's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force told The Standard-Examiner of Ogden, Utah. "I would go through the roof if this happened to my kid."

"Madden" publisher EA Sports apologized to the family, and Circuit City, which sold the game to Kolton's uncle, planned to send the kid a replacement along with several other games.

-GIFT WRAP: Last month we mentioned Child's Play, the gamer-supported charity dedicated to raising money for children's hospitals around the world. Child's Play founders Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins - also known as Gabe and Tycho, creators and stars of the Web comic "Penny Arcade" - have since announced that the charity raised more than $1 million in 2006. One interesting note from December's fundraising auction: A Wii-DS combo pack signed by Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime went for $3,700, while an Xbox 360 signed by Microsoft Vice President J Allard drew $1,200. Generous gamers like Microsoft, but they love Nintendo.

-NEW THIS WEEK: Starting with this column, we'll be highlighting the most noteworthy games arriving in stores each week. The post-holiday period is usually a slow time for high-profile releases, but this week we have one: Capcom's frostbitten sci-fi adventure "Lost Planet: Extreme Condition," for the Xbox 360. Also new is the year's first movie tie-in: "Arthur and the Invisibles" (Atari, for the PlayStation 2, Game Boy, DS and PC), based on the poorly reviewed kids' movie from French director Luc Besson.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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