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Jeux rétro en ligne Time Warner va lancer Gametap cette année. Ce site Internet permettra de télécharger 1 000 jeux vidéo, extraits des catalogue s d’anciennes consoles, pour certains devenus cultes. (source : 20 mn)

Les jeux vidéo cultes auront leur bibliothèque

La division Turner Broadcasting de Time Warner lancera cette année un réseau informatique auquel pourront s’abonner les fans de vieux jeux vidéos devenus des classiques et rarement encore disponibles.

GameTap proposera une bibliothèque de plus de 1000 jeux, édités à l’époque par 17 sociétés différentes, dont Activision ou Ubisoft, et pratiqués sur des consoles telles que NES ou Genesis ou disponibles en jeux d’arcades ou sur PC. Un logiciel d’émulation gratuit permettra à tout internaute disposant d’une connexion à haut débit de télécharger en toute légalité ses jeux d’enfance favoris. Aucun jeu dédié aux consoles actuelles ne sera proposé dans ce grand entrepôt du jeu.

Le téléchargement sera accompagné d’une diffusion de bandes-annonces ou d’informations pour différents produits liés à Turner et nécessitera de s’abonner mais la société n’en a pas encore divulgué les modalités. Les éditeurs, quant à eux, vendront une licence à GameTap, sans contrepartie sur les revenus.

“Il n’y a rien d’illégal à concevoir un programme d’émulation”, a déclaré Blake Lewin, créateur du réseau et vice-président du développement des produits Turner, précisant que les éditeurs et les fabricants de consoles avaient fait bon accueil au projet GameTap, resté secret durant plus de deux ans de développement.

Dans un secteur qui se nourrit de rumeurs et de spéculation, Turner a réussi à faire travailler plus d’une centaine de personnes sans que rien ne fuite. (source : lexpress.mu)

A priori c'est confirmé par le site US Hollywood reporter :

April 27, 2005
TBS set to play with GameTap sub package
By Chris Marlowe
TBS is going online to do for video games what it did for classic movies. The Time Warner company Wednesday was to unveil GameTap, a broadband entertainment network that combines games on demand with original programming into a subscription package that the company characterized as the first of its kind.

"Turner's lifeblood is creating branded networks, and we are excited about the opportunity to create an immersive environment for games following our success with other branded environments like CNN, TCM and Cartoon Network," said Andrew Heller, president of domestic distribution at TBS Inc.


GameTap is scheduled to go live in the fall with 300 games at any one time, according to Dennis Quinn, TBS' executive vp business development.

The entertainment proposition goes beyond playing games, however. GameTap also will offer a slate of specially created original programming that will include coming attractions, interviews, back stories and more -- all cross-promoted with existing Turner activities.

"We want to expand your playground and expand your understanding of games," Quinn said.

One program under development, for example, has the working title of "Tapped In." It will present special features, highlights and coming attractions with a hip feel familiar to fans of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block. In fact, the eponymous host of the block's "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" is among those conducting interviews.

Quinn said the games are licensed outright to provide the most flexibility in programming. "We're going to promote and create just like we do for TV," he said, adding that GameTap will offer themed programming, marathons, series spotlights and other content packages.

Pricing for the monthly subscription has not been determined, but it is expected to be $10-$20 for unlimited access. Billing will be done directly with the consumer through a newly created customer relationship management facility that has the potential to handle additional products in the future.

The library of available titles will be refreshed at a rate of five to 10 each week, drawing from a catalog of licensed games that already includes 1,000 titles from 17 publishers. Quinn expects five additional publishers and 100 more games before the service launches.

He added that cable operators have been supportive. "GameTap is our first broadband entertainment network," Quinn said. "It gives another reason to drive our partners' high-speed broadband."

GameTap is the brainchild of Blake Lewin, vp product invention at TBS. "We were interested in interactive television," he said. "Everyone in the industry thought it was the next big thing, but nobody knew when, where or how. My mandate was to look for opportunities that we at Turner could leverage."

The content is organized in such categories as user favorites, genre, original platform and editor's picks. Searching and parental controls also are available, though there are no games rated M or above.

Once selected, each title displays an "InfoCard" that includes original release year, platform, publisher, description, screen shot and bonus material, which can include classic commercials and original Turner programming.

"We designed it to be as easy as TV," Lewin said. "It's about getting people exposed to different games and letting them experience them in new ways."

There are no current games on the service, Quinn said, because the idea is to follow the same path that has proved successful with cable. "We are a neutral aggregator of great libraries," he said. "We've changed the content and the delivery, but it's the same model."

GameTap also fills a gap in the gaming industry's product life cycle. "With GameTap, Turner fills a need in the industry for a viable postretail sales channel for games," Quinn said. "It is an outlet for publishers to extend the life of past hits and even past misses."

Subscriptions are good for up to two computers, which must be connected to the Internet via broadband and have 5GB of free disk space available for the service's use. GameTap works on PCs running Microsoft's Windows 2000 or XP with 256MB RAM and a standard video card.

--- Et quand les éditeurs s'en mêlent :

Namco readies another Arcade Collection compilation

50th Anniversary Arcade Collection of 14 games to get August release on multiple systems.
If history tells us anything, it's that Namco loves compilations. So it's only appropriate that for the company's 50th anniversary jam, Namco Hometek should release a collection of 14 of its arcade titles on the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PC, and Game Boy Advance. The games are due this August.


The 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection is being billed by Namco Hometek as the largest collection of Namco arcade classics ever. The assertion comes despite the fact that earlier this month, it announced the US release of the Namco Museum Battle Collection for the PSP, which features more than 20 Namco titles, also to be released this summer.

The list of announced games included on the upcoming versions of Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection is identical across all platform, though Xbox gamers will be able to post their high scores online through Xbox Live.

The lineup is as follows:

Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Galaga
Galaxian
Dig Dug
Pole Position
Pole Position II
Rolling Thunder
Rally X
Bosconian
Dragon Spirit
Sky Kid
Xevious
Mappy

Namco is also releasing a Game Boy Advance version of the compilation, which will include Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, and Rally X

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