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View Full Version : Microsoft playing with Gamecaster



xboxtito
12-20-2002, 02:07 PM
Gamecaster is "building the NFL for video games," company president David MacIntosh said Thursday, and Microsoft has signed on to help.

The San Diego-based company, run by some of the talent behind the Olympics telecast and the Comedy Central series "BattleBots," has partnered with Talentworks to tape two video game tournaments a year beginning next year and air them as a TV series. Gamecaster has struck a deal with Microsoft to use its Xbox and games in the show. Electronic Arts and Activision also are participating.

Gamecaster is working on a deal with a national network for the proposed series. The concept involves televising video game tournaments as 13-week sporting events featuring players who have been enlisted from around the world. Potential players sign up online and pay a $50 entry fee.

Each tournament will feature hundreds of competitors and will occur in front of a live audience, taped over five days and then divided into a 13-week TV season.

Gamecaster will produce the live tournament coverage for the network to air later. Talentworks will begin selling the idea to networks in February.

The company has signed an exclusive royalty agreement with Microsoft to include any of its 130 different PC and Xbox video game properties in its tournaments, including such hits as "Halo" and "Age of Mythology." Electronic Arts has agreed to allow Gamecaster to feature its PC game "Battlefield 1942" in the tournaments and is in discussions about other titles. Activision, Nintendo and Sony have also been contacted to include PlayStation 2 and GameCube systems and games.

"We want to take these video game players and turn them into virtual athletes," MacIntosh said.

more 411 go to http://www.gamecaster.com/about.html

OuFtb
12-20-2002, 02:56 PM
Sounds great expesily if its only Micrsoft games and PS2 does not get in on it. That would also be alot of advertizing for the Xbox if its the only system