Gaming and Culture

In the newest version of the Guitar Hero franchise, Guitar Hero 5, as many as four players can all play guitar at the same time, instead of just two. Further, any combination of instruments is now possible.

(Credit: Activision Blizzard)

SAN FRANCISCO--The first couple of weeks of September are going to be a banner time for music video games. On September 9 (09/09/09), the much-anticipated The Beatles: Rock Band will hit store shelves, just eight days after Guitar Hero 5 gets its chance to rock living rooms everywhere.

With the Beatles game, it's easy to imagine long lines and huge sales figures. After all, this will be the first time that any of the recent slew of music-oriented video games will feature any Beatles songs, let alone dozens of them.

But with Guitar Hero 5 (see video below)--has so much time gone by already that there could even be five Guitar Hero releases?--one has to work just a little bit harder to envision the big bucks that its publisher, Activision Blizzard, surely is hoping to bring in.

Still, the guys at Neversoft, the game's developer, have proven time and again that they know what they're doing. The Guitar Hero franchise has produced hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and created a dynamic in which people everywhere are now comfortable picking up and jamming away on a guitar, albeit a plastic one with buttons instead of strings.

And with that in mind, one has to give the Neversoft team the benefit of the doubt for their new game, which will be released for all the major video game platforms.

On Thursday, I stopped in at a Guitar Hero press event here and had the chance to speak with two of the executives most responsible for the new game: Brian Bright, the project director at Neversoft for Guitar Hero 5, and Tim Riley, who oversees the Guitar Hero franchise's music licensing.

Among the big-name rock stars who appear in Guitar Hero 5 as characters is Carlos Santana.

(Credit: Activision Blizzard)

One of the things I was most interested in was the rationale for a new Guitar Hero game. To be sure, game companies like Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two have a mandate to generate massive revenues, and so franchises like Guitar Hero are tried and true in that regard. But in spite of that, each new edition of a franchise game has to have something significant to offer to entice enough customers to earn its keep.

To hear Bright tell it, the best rationale for Guitar Hero--besides its 85 new songs by 83 artists--is its "Party Play" mode in which players can jump in or out of songs any time they please, all with the click of a single button.

What that means, Bright added, is that Guitar Hero 5 will offer a potentially broad new audience an entirely new level of "accessibility," in particular because in the previous versions, many people playing for the first time would have found themselves needing a little hand-holding to get started. Now, he said, that's no longer the case, and players new and old will be able to easily and quickly go right into rocking out.

Another important Guitar Hero 5 innovation, Bright said, is an "any instrument" selection that will, for the first time, allow more than two people to play guitar at the same time rather than someone in a foursome having to play drums and someone having to sing. And even if there isn't a mad rush to grab a guitar, this features means that any combination of instruments is, for the first time, possible, whether a group is playing cooperatively or competitively.

Downloadable content
Given that many players of the game's previous iteration--Guitar Hero: World Tour--likely paid to download songs, Activision is making it possible to port most of those songs to Guitar Hero 5. The company said 152 of the 158 downloadable songs from the earlier game will be compatible with the new one, though users will have to pay a "nominal re-licensing fee," the amount of which the company hasn't publicly spelled out yet.

Among the innovations in Guitar Hero 5 is the ability for Xbox players to use their Xbox Live avatars.

(Credit: Activision Blizzard)

And that means that with the 85 songs Guitar Hero 5 comes with, plus new downloadable songs, the new game's players can have set lists of potentially hundreds of songs, Bright said.

I wanted to know a little bit more about how Activision persuades musicians to allow their songs to be included in Guitar Hero, especially after learning how the Beatles were won over for the forthcoming Rock Band game.

Riley, the publisher's music licensing specialist, said that as the Guitar Hero franchise becomes better-known, he and his team have an easier time of it. In part, that's because "the larger the game gets, the more known it gets within the (music) industry (and) with the artists themselves."

And that means that Riley and his team have now had the chance to get musicians like Arctic Monkeys and Elliott Smith--whom they've never worked with before--to contribute songs to the game. Indeed, he said Guitar Hero 5 features songs from nearly 20 artists who have never allowed their music to be in a video game before.

Of course, it doesn't happen overnight. In the case of Arctic Monkeys, Riley explained, it took multiple visits with the band to show them demos and explain what the Guitar Hero franchise is all about to get permission.

One big factor, Riley added, was being able to assure artists that their music is "safe" in Guitar Hero, meaning that users won't be able to easily pirate the songs from the game.

At the same time, he explained that for a lot of musicians, games like this are now seen as an attractive way to get their music in front of large audiences, particularly because the record industry is becoming more and more notorious for doing a poor job of helping distribute new music.

"Just by having a song in the game," Riley said, "kids become familiar with the song, or the artist, and will go out and buy (it) or go out and purchase more music from that artist."

This post was updated at 11:30 p.m. PDT with a corrected photo credit. The photo of Alyson, aka Nin9ty Nin9, was taken by Stephen Couratier.

Mark Smith, the winner of the World Cyber Games Ultimate Gamer competition, which was aired as part of a reality TV show on Sci-Fi Channel, concentrates during the tournament. Smith outlasted 11 other contestants to win the $100,000 grand prize.

(Credit: Sci-Fi Channel)

On Tuesday, after eight weekly episodes, video game enthusiasts--and others--saw a winner crowned in the Sci-Fi Channel's reality TV show, "World Cyber Games Ultimate Gamer."

Pitting 12 hard-core gamers--whom the public knew only by their first names and their "gamertags"--against each other in what could be called the video game version of "Big Brother," the show highlighted the difficulties of top-level gaming, as well as the social challenges of coming out on top in a hypercompetitive group.

So for Mark Smith, who came back from an epic deficit in the finals to win the show's $100,000 first prize, victory was both sweet and a confirmation of his ability to overcome even the longest odds. In his mind, at least, he was always a huge underdog to contestant Robert, the eventual runner-up, and the month the group spent filming--and living--together in Los Angeles last fall forced him to summon all his skills.

Ultimate Gamer winner Mark Smith.

(Credit: Sci-Fi Channel)

While also a reality show in the traditional vein, "Ultimate Gamer" pitted the 12 contestants against each other in a wide range of games, including Halo 3, Rock Band 2, Virtua Fighter 5, and Dance, Dance Revolution: Universe 3. And winning meant being the best of the group, in the end, across the board.

Now, as the show's champion, Smith will take on the added role of representative of the World Cyber Games. That will see him traveling the world on behalf of the gaming league, including to the 2009 World Cyber Games championship in China.

Smith, 23, lives in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and, like any professional, devotes a great deal of time to his sport. Some may scoff at the notion that video gaming is a sport, but there are more and more leagues around the world these days offering players the spotlight--and big money.

On Wednesday, Smith sat down for an interview with CNET News to talk about what it took to win Ultimate Gamer, the fact that it should shock no one that some of the best gamers in the world are women, and how to prevail even when faced with the toughest odds.

Q: Why is "Applesauce" your gamertag?
Mark Smith: When I was around 13 or 14 I was really into punk rock and gamed as "SexPistol." But the older I got and the more gamers I met I decided to settle on a more family-friendly name. I don't know how Applesauce came up, but I knew it was right when I first picked it.

How many contestants were there in this competition?
Smith: To start off there were 12 of us in the house, with five girls in the mix of it. I was actually really surprised there were so many females, but then that quickly went away as soon as I saw Alyson and Ciji pick up Rock Band 2 for the first time. All of the girls there were really fantastically talented gamers and that really caught me off guard.

That's not so surprising anymore, though, is it? What with teams like the FragDolls and such?
Smith: Oh yeah. I already knew who Amy was, what with the PMS Clan being as huge as it is. But I always wrote those girl clans off as hokey and just as a good place for girls to play. But after living with some of these girls and seeing how well they can play, not anymore.

Alyson, aka Nin9ty Nin9, was one of five women to compete for the Ultimate Gamer title. She had previously won a competition to join the all-women video game team, the Frag Dolls.

(Credit: Stephen Couratier)

How did you win? what pushed you over the top?
Smith: I think it was just all my past experience that helped me keep a cool head even in the very end when I was down 0-4 against Robert in the finale. I know these guys have a lot of game time under their belts too, but I didn't have broadband until my senior year in high school. So, I lived for the next LAN party that was coming up or whatever tournament was in the area. It would be nearly impossible to put a number on all the events I paid to attend out of my own pocket just because I love it, but it would have to be well over 200 LAN parties since I was 14 years old. I'm 23 now.

What does it take to be a championship-level gamer?
Smith: The first thing it takes to be on the top is dedication. Your favorite players didn't get to where they are by not working hard. Plenty of practice and experience will help you get ready for when the "big show" comes around. Also, you have to show up to events and tournaments. You can be good online all day but when it comes to a face-to-face battle with everybody watching, most people don't have the nerves to perform. It's a totally different environment from playing in the comfort of your home. But it also makes your winning a thousand times more satisfying. And I'm really jealous of how many more opportunities young kids have today to compete. Local events were few and far between where I lived as a kid so I did a lot of traveling to find people to play with. Now I can just log onto okgamers.com and see four different events in Oklahoma on any given weekend.

You have to admit that for a lot of people, it would be funny that you would be jealous of "kids" when you're 23.
Smith: Yeah, that's true. But I grew up playing games like UT99', Tribes and Quake II and most people I meet through Halo 3 have never heard of such things. I think I'm just getting old in "gamer years."

Of the games that you had to play in this competition, what are you best at, and worst at?
Smith: I'd definitely have to say my worst game was Project Gotham Racing 4. I don't know what it is, but racing games just don't click for me. Also, the real-life challenge for Dance Dance Revolution was pretty devastating for me. There's a YouTube video to prove it. But my best game for the show was Halo 3. If you can't already tell, I am a PC gamer at the heart, and consoles aren't really where I do my best gaming.

What makes a good tournament game?
Smith: I really wish game developers would put more focus into adding "tournament modes" into their games and work a lot harder to make them spectator-friendly. Look at Halo 3. After two sequels, it still doesn't have a proper live-spectator mode and you can't even go into first-person view yet. On the tournament modes, if developers want their game to be the next nationally played competitive game, then they shouldn't leave it up to the communities to write mods or scripts to do it.

Smith squares off against a competitor during the Ultimate Gamer tournament.

(Credit: Sci-Fi Channel)

What it was like for you during the finals? What was on your mind?
Smith: Well, Robert was the favorite from the start, and even more so when it was just us two left. But I've never been one to count myself out of anything, especially one-on-one in almost any game. So in my head, I tried to treat it as just any other tournament because the more I built it up and the more I thought about how much was at stake, the less confident I felt. From the beginning, I knew anything could happen but my chances of getting slaughtered were pretty good because everyone idolized Rob. All that changed after I took down Shawn White's Snowboard for the first game. It was like, "Wait a minute, Rob is human. I might just win this." After that it was game on. Also, in the finale, the last game was Soul Calibur 4. The first to five points wins the whole show. Rob went up 4-0 on me. I had to give myself a little pep talk in my head, something along the lines of "Mark, did you seriously come this far to get shut out in one of your favorite games? Man up and start playing like you know what the heck you're doing."

It must have been hard to concentrate with $100,000 on the line.
Smith: That wasn't the hard part! The hard part was concentrating with my girlfriend two feet away making faces like someone was pulling off her toenails. I looked over once for some support and saw that it looked like she needed a lot more than I did.

Since this was a reality show and was going to be seen by lots of people on TV, how was it different than other tournaments you'd been in?
Smith: This was definitely a way more competitive tournament. There is the whole "meta-game" going on 24/7, as Geoff called it. The game within the game. Chelsea is a perfect example. She did a great job staying in everyone's favor and never having to see an elimination until the gauntlet. There were people throwing matches, and people scheming to take others out of the game, There was a lot more in motion all around you than just the Xbox. Lots of us have been to multiple-day tournaments, but our actions outside of the screen never helped govern what position we finished in.

What was the hardest part of this whole process for you?
Smith: The most difficult thing has been keeping my mouth shut this entire time. We finished filming a few days before Christmas, So I've been sitting on this win for a long time. Especially when even my friends on my own CSS team said, "You probably didn't win."

Now that you've won (and everyone knows) what's next for you? How do you follow up something like this?
Smith: It will be tough to beat winning $100,000 and becoming a World Cyber Gaming rep. But I think all of us are going to attend as many events as we can over the next few years. The goal is always to win, but getting out there and helping e-sports grow is a huge priority. A few of us will be at the LINK Iron Man of Gaming tournament this July in Dallas. And the WCG is sending Rob and I to Mexico this summer for the Pan American championship. Then I'll be going to China this November. It's going to be a crazy couple years, but I'm just going to take it one first-place finish at a time.

What do you think is compelling about competitive gaming?
Smith: The best thing about competitive gaming is that it welcomes anybody regardless of how you're built, or any limitations you might have. I can't tell you how many three- or four-fingered gamers I know that still rip it up with the best of them, But can they throw a perfect spiral? Probably not. Also, most of us come from playing high school sports and believe it or not, gaming offers a lot of the same thrills.

(Credit: Paramount)

Please note: Friendly seas ahead! This is a spoiler-free review.

NEW YORK--When I walked into a theater at Viacom's midtown headquarters for an advance screening of the new J.J. Abrams-directed "Star Trek" prequel on Wednesday night, I felt like that kid who hadn't done her homework--for an entire semester.

And yet that was crucial to my assignment: to see if it was possible for someone completely new to the "Star Trek" universe to understand, process, and more importantly enjoy this new film.

Here's my background. I had never seen any of the prior "Star Trek" films or television series. I knew little more than the fact that it's all about a bunch of people flying a spaceship called the Enterprise, that Leonard Nimoy played an extraterrestrial named Spock who had funny ears and liked to say "Live long and prosper," and that the Klingon language has such a rabid following that the Bible has been translated into it.

Technically, the closest I'd come to seeing anything related to "Star Trek" was the 1998 parody "Galaxy Quest," in which the actors from a washed-up Trek-like TV show are enlisted by benevolent aliens who think they're the real thing (Little-known fact: That was the first movie role for Justin "I'm a Mac" Long). But I'm also a huge fan of Abrams' hit series "Lost," so I suppose I had a leg up there.

So here is my verdict: This movie is awesome.

The new "Star Trek" film is less an homage to a legendary science fiction franchise than to storytelling in general, back through decades of cinema and television and beyond. A deep respect for literature, pop culture, and epic storytelling is something that Abrams has proven time and again to fans, from the litany of film-rooted "Sawyer nicknames" on "Lost" to the tradition of Japanese monster movies that powered last year's "Cloverfield." This is a movie that will probably be well-regarded by anyone with an appreciation for epic adventure and drama, not to mention fast-paced and often witty dialogue.

And that's what the "Star Trek" prequel needed, considering the hand-wringing that surrounded it from even before it was officially greenlit.

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman was on hand before the screening to greet the audience and explain a bit about the film's origins: that Paramount, the Viacom-owned studio that is releasing the new film, was well aware of the complications and potential pratfalls of adapting "Star Trek, especially in a prequel form, and especially with the goal of reaching out to both "Trekkies" (or "Trekkers," as I hear there is a difference?) and potential new fans. He said that cinema luminaries, including Steven Spielberg, had warned Abrams that undertaking a project with such a history and legacy of loyal fans could be risky.

But the director went ahead, a second Abrams-helmed "Star Trek" picture was greenlit almost immediately, and his contract with Paramount was extended another five years. Obviously, this is a franchise in which the studio has some real faith.

Pretty early on, you can tell that this isn't the "Star Trek" of the '60s, even though I admittedly don't really know what that is. The first 20 minutes contain not only ear-splitting action sequences, but brand-drops of both Nokia and Budweiser (as well as 'Slusho,' a fictional brand from "Cloverfield"), one very Abrams-esque "gotcha" character reveal that will take most newbies like me by surprise, and the oddly effective use of the Beastie Boys' 1994 song "Sabotage."

There is a pivotal bar fight, which I first took as a nod to "Star Wars," but on second thought, the cinematic barroom confrontation really goes back much further than the Mos Eisley Cantina. (I need to brush up on my knowledge of Westerns.) Again, this is a movie deeply rooted in generations of storytelling both onscreen and off.

I can see why some hardcore "Star Trek" fans may have been nervous about the casting decisions: the Internet Movie Database informs me that Chris Pine, the young actor cast as Captain Kirk, was starring opposite Lindsay Lohan in some tepid romantic comedy a few years ago, and Sulu is played by John Cho, best known for playing Harold in the spliffed-up "Harold and Kumar" movies. I must say that Cho wields a retractable sword just as well as he does a joint, and Pine's Kirk keeps the frat-boy attitude to a relative minimum.

But more importantly, "Star Trek" is just plain fun. And I came to appreciate the fact that I was sitting in that theater without prejudice. I was concerned less about whether the cast would live up to the actors who originated their roles, and more about holy whoa, that spaceship just blew up!. There is, however, a flip side to the universality of the new "Star Trek" that Paramount might not love: The fact that it stands so well on its own might mean that it doesn't mint a new generation of Trekkies.

Like me, for one. As much as I enjoyed the prequel, I can't see myself Netflixing all the DVDs of the past "Star Trek" TV series and movies. I've already got "Lost" to deal with, and one fictional universe and canon is enough for me, thank you very much. Seriously--what does lie in the shadow of the statue? Losties, can you help me out here?

Correction: This post initially misstated the company providing the tracking technology being used to provide security and safety for NFL personnel. The company is US Fleet Tracking.

The NFL has been using Twitter to spread the word about the latest and greatest happenings in Tampa during Super Bowl week. The feed is just one of a number of technologies being used at the Super Bowl that are little known or seen.

(Credit: Twitter)

At its core, football represents the polar opposite of technology: A bunch of large men run around a field, battling for position and the control of a small pigskin ball.

Of course, the production of an actual NFL game requires lots of technology--from the headsets coaches use to communicate, to the computers used to calculate statistics to the HD cameras that record the contest for the viewing audience.

When it comes to the Super Bowl, one of the biggest sporting events in the world, technology has always played a very central role, and this year is no exception.

Indeed, as the NFL gets ready to put on the big game this Sunday in Tampa, Fla., between the five-time champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the perennial bottom-dwelling Arizona Cardinals, the league and its many partners will be rolling out a wide variety of technology, much of which has been used in the past, but some of which is all new.

And a good deal of that is behind-the-scenes tech that most fans never see, would never think of, or is new and niche enough that they will never even know it existed.

For example, even though Twitter has become a mainstay of the Web 2.0 world, it is still a mystery to most people. But the NFL decided to embrace the microblogging service, and has already rolled out its Super Bowl Twitter feed. There, an unknown number of people have been posting regular updates for the last few days about the goings-on in Tampa--the big press events, the behind-the-scenes developments, all kinds of football-related observations that fans may or may not appreciate.

"Midnight at the hotel bar, no celebs," a Wednesday night tweet began. "Oh wait...there's Donovan McNabb! I'm sure he's still shocked he's not preparing for Sunday's game."

"Wow," another began. "Sully and the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 will be honored during Super Bowl XLIII pregame! Very cool."

To be sure, a Super Bowl Twitter feed isn't the most advanced or glamorous thing in the world, but to the NFL, it's a way to share a little bit of the flavor of the excitement gathering around the game.

"Our digital media group has been working furiously to find new ways to help our fans experience Super Bowl week," said NFL.com spokesperson Joanna Hunter in an e-mail, "even if they can't travel to Tampa Bay to be there in person."

Yet there were just 1,940 followers for the Super Bowl Twitter feed as of Thursday afternoon, a tiny number when compared to the millions of fans who will watch the game on TV, and a sign that this technology is, even now, something that has risen to the attention of only the smallest number of people.

Another online innovation the NFL is touting is a system its SuperBowl.com site employed for the league's annual Media Day on Tuesday. Online viewers were able to select from five different cameras filming the event and watch the player they wanted to see speak.

Again, a small development, but one the league hopes enhanced the overall experience of its fans.

What viewers will see
While the Super Bowl game is the main event for football fans, watching the elaborate and expensive commercials made to air specifically during the contest has long been a favorite of even the most sports-averse.

This year should be no exception. But for the first time, TV viewers will be seeing two extremely technologically cutting edge ads, modern 3D commercials for SoBe drinks and for NBC's Chuck, as well as a 90-second preview of the forthcoming 3D Dreamworks film, Monsters vs. Aliens.

According to Steve Schklair, the CEO of 3ality Digital's technology division, 3ality Digital Systems--the company whose cameras were used to film the included live-action footage--all of the 3D spots will be possible to watch without special glasses, but will be much richer with pairs of 3D specs that are being handed out all over the country at retail outlets where SoBe drinks are sold.

Instead of the traditional green and red 3D glasses, these are yellow and blue and, Schklair said, different than the eyewear required to watch the new style of 3D films being shown in theaters around the country these days.

Schklair added that the value of showing 3D ads and trailers during the Super Bowl comes from the fact that research has shown that the retention rate for messages put out in 3D is far higher than for traditional 2D. Further, he said, the Super Bowl 3D ads will be a good test case for potentially running 3D trailers in movie theaters in the future.

The NFL and 3ality have a previous history, as well. In December, the NFL used 3ality's technology to broadcast a regular season game between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers in 3D.

When it comes to TV, of course, the biggest piece of the Super Bowl puzzle is the broadcast of the game itself. This year, NBC has the coveted rights to the NFL championship, and, as it did with its recent coverage of the Beijing Olympics, the Peacock Network is putting huge resources into the project.

For the most part, viewers won't see many differences during the Super Bowl from NBC's regular-season Sunday night NFL broadcasts. One small innovation will be a new on-screen graphic.

"The biggest change...viewers will see is a slightly refined graphic look," Broadcasting & Cable reported, "as NBC will have individual player stats briefly pop onscreen to replace the 'score bug' in an effort to reduce on-screen clutter."

To put on its broadcast, NBC will have 200 crew at the game, and more than 450 total production and engineering staff in Tampa. And the effort will feature 52 high-definition cameras, 45 vehicles (including control trucks, mobile units, office trailers and a horse trailer), 24 digital video replay sources, eight digital post-production facilities (five Avid suites and three Final Cut Pro suites), 20 hand-held cameras, five robotic cameras, two RF hand-held cameras, one "cable-cam" camera that is suspended above the field, 50 miles of camera and microphone cable, 93 microphones, and much more.

"Specialty cameras for the Super Bowl include robotic units on the goalposts and in the hallways outside each team's locker room," Broadcasting & and Cable reported, "dedicated goal-line cameras, overhead Cable-cams and X-Mo ultra-high-frame-rate cameras from Inertia Unlimited that will be used to deliver incredibly detailed slow-motion replays. The X-Mo cameras will give frame-by-frame views of both the goal line, to gauge whether a touchdown has been scored, and the sideline, to see exactly where a player stepped out of bounds."

What viewers won't see
For the NFL, supporting all its efforts in Tampa is a very computing-heavy project. As such, the league has partnered with IBM and is using a series of four IBM BladeCenter S chassis, one at each of four venues the NFL has set up around Tampa: one for general media and PR, one for the league's offices, one for game-day media and PR, and one for credentialing and in-house security.

According to Jonathan Kelly, director of computing infrastructure for the NFL, the league chose the IBM blade servers because they offer a high degree of mobility--the blades are briefcase sized--and very quick set up.

Each chassis has two of the blades, which offers all-important redundancy, Kelly said.

"It's about time criticality and high availability," he said. "If one host goes down, the other immediately picks up."

The NFL is using a series of BladeSensor S chassis to power the computing at its four venues in Tampa during Super Bowl week. For the NFL, the blade servers allow quick setup, high mobility, and all-important redundancy.

(Credit: IBM)

For the NFL, the IBM blade servers are a clean break from what the league used in many previous years: large numbers of individual servers and computers, all of which took a lot of time to set up and and a lot of manpower to operate.

The blades run VMware's virtual platform and give the league the ability to run virtualized operations at each of its four venues in Tampa, said Joe Manto, the NFL's vide president of information technology.

In 2008, the league did run beta versions of the IBM blade architecture, but this year, it is standardizing on full production versions, and plans to roll them out after the Super Bowl for each of the 32 NFL teams.

And lest the players themselves not benefit from technology--or at least be involved with it--a company called US Fleet Tracking says it is helping to ensure the safety and security of the dozens of "key NFL and entertainment personalities" as they are bused from location to location in Tampa this week.

US Fleet Tracking's technology is being used to track the location and movements of the players, as well as Bruce Springsteen--the halftime performer--around the Super Bowl city. The idea is that by employing tracking devices, the NFL's Gameday Operations personnel can be kept aware of the precise location of all these people.

"Through real-time information updates, security officials can ensure that the proper authorities and escorts are always in the right place at the right time," a statement from the network provider, Kore Telematics, said. "Officials also have the ability to respond instantly if any vehicle leaves the expected route, becomes delayed or is subject to other unexpected events."

In the Gameday Operations area, then, NFL officials will be monitoring the players and other VIPs in real time on six 42-inch LCD TVs, and they will get updates on the locations of their charges every five seconds. Further, they'll be able to see precisely where the various vehicles they're watching are, down to accuracy of a quarter mile per hour and eight inches.

Whether dozens of highly-paid, young professional football players in a town full of parties and nonstop entertainment will want to have their movements tracked to within an accuracy of eight inches is another matter.

Still, with all this technology in place, the game will commence on Sunday, just as it has on 42 previous occasions, with the entirely low-tech flip of a coin, and the kicking of an inflated pigskin ball. When all is said and done, it's nice to know that behind the many layers of the very latest technology available, the Super Bowl is, at its roots, just a kids' game played by a bunch of men.

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A screen shot from the forthcoming online game, 'Star Wars: The Old Republic.' The game, which is from LucasArts and BioWare, picks up where the 'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic' franchise left off.

(Credit: LucasArts/BioWare)

Updated at 4:13 p.m. PDT: This story now includes more information from the press event announcing 'Star Wars: The Old Republic' at LucasArts Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO--At a press event at LucasArts' headquarters in the Presidio here Tuesday afternoon, LucasArts and BioWare unveiled Star Wars: The Old Republic, a new massively multiplayer online game.

Click tio view image gallery.

(Credit: LucasArts/BioWare)

The game is set about 350 years after the popular Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games and about 3,500 years before the Star Wars movies.

The companies did not divulge a release date and it appears that they will not show any live game play. But with the announcement, LucasArts and BioWare--which is now owned by Electronic Arts--have pulled the curtain back on what appears a large-scale online game in which players will be able to take on roles and create their own, personal Star Wars story lines.

"We're excited to be working again in the Star Warsuniverse," said BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka. It's a "rich period, (a) dynamic period full of Jedi and Sith and other dynamic characters you get to play."

Muzyka explained that the designers of the game wanted to ensure that The Old Republic was a story-based MMO that followed in the tradition of the Knights of the Old Republic.

He added that while people have often asked BioWare if the company would ever produce the third installment in the Knights of the Old Republic franchise, this new game amounts to installment Nos. three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and beyond.

"The game is that big," Muzyka joked.

As designers, Muzyka added, he and his team ensured that The Old Republic featured four main "pillars." These include exploration, discovery, combat, and story.

An exterior screen shot from Korriban in the new game 'Star Wars: The Old Republic,' from LucasArts and BioWare.

(Credit: LucasArts/BioWare)

BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk also explained that the game is designed around making it possible for players unfamiliar with MMOs or with the Knights of the Old Republic franchise to pick it up and start playing immediately.

James Ohlen, the creative director of BioWare's Austin, Texas, studio, where the game was designed, explained that players would get to choose many different things in the game like class, whether they're good or evil, how the story unfolds, whether they represent the Galactic Empire or the Sith Republic and more. And within separate classes, he said, each class has their own story line to pursue.

For now, the companies are not saying when the game will be released--or even what year--or discussing the business model behind it.

But as Muzyka said, "Fans certainly expect a certain way to get into (an MMO), and we're going to accommodate them."

That suggested that the game would be based on a traditional MMO subscription model in which players would pay a monthly fee to play.

And while Star Wars fans will have to wait some time before getting their hands on the game, there is a full synopsis of the story line, as made available by LucasArts and BioWare in press materials:

The Galactic Republic stood for generations as a bastion of peace in a galaxy of warring star systems. Protected by its stalwart Jedi guardians, the Republic held the greatest hope for the progress of civilization and galactic unity.

Deep in unknown space, however, a mighty Sith Empire was forged, led by dark Sith Lords who dreamt of galactic domination and vengeance against their ancient Jedi enemies. After centuries of preparation, the time came for the Sith to make their return.

With a massive fleet and an awe-inspiring army of fearless troops, the Sith Emperor launched a surprise assault, quickly capturing dozens of worlds in the Outer Rim, and sparking a war unlike any other in the galaxy's history.

From the frozen wastes of Ilum to the desert plains of Dathomir, violent battles killed untold millions. Despite its avowed neutrality, surface structures on the water-covered world of Manaan were completely destroyed, forcing the Selkath to retreat to their ocean underworld. Other star systems fared worse--some destroyed, others left uninhabitable. The carnage concluded with the Sith Empire sacking the Republic's capital planet of Coruscant and forcing the Republic Senate into the controversial Treaty of Coruscant.

In the years since the treaty, fear and uncertainty have gripped the galaxy, enabling the Sith Emperor to pursue his own mysterious purposes while the Republic has made efforts to rebuild its infrastructure and adjust military priorities to the new galactic landscape.

Now, tensions between the Republic and the Empire are running high, and a series of border skirmishes and proxy wars have broken out, even on planets as historically peaceful as Alderaan. The uneasy truce established by the Treaty of Coruscant is quickly tearing apart at the seams, and a return to all-out war has begun in all but official terms.

A new generation of heroes, both light and dark, emerges to face the difficulties of these chaotic times, and fight for the fate of the galaxy in this most desperate age.

The Republic

For more than twenty thousand years, the Galactic Republic has been the most civilized and advanced power in the known galaxy. Governed by the Galactic Senate with representatives from hundreds of star systems and planets, the Republic has been the center of peace and progress, a bright beacon in the darkness of outer space.

The revered Jedi Order has sworn itself to defend the Republic, to battle the darkness, and to bring peace and balance to the greater galaxy. The Jedi have served for millennia in this capacity, and in that time they have earned themselves the admiration of their allies, and the hatred of their enemies.

Less than a century ago, the greatest of those enemies returned...

The onslaught of the Sith Empire caught the Republic and the Jedi completely by surprise, and during a long and arduous war, the Republic was broken. After the capital planet of Coruscant was ravaged by the Sith's Imperial forces, the Supreme Chancellor and the Senate were forced to sign the painful Treaty of Coruscant, which required the Republic to withdraw its support of several long-standing allies, including the ever-loyal Bothans.

Struggling with a wave of withdrawing star systems, an insurmountable supply crisis, and chaos on the streets of Coruscant, the Senate has become paralyzed in the years since the treaty. The bitter and divided nobility of the Core Worlds disputes every decision, damaging the morale of the Republic's already discouraged citizens.

Blaming the Jedi for the failures that led to Imperial domination, the Senate has distanced itself from the Republic's legendary guardians. The Jedi remain committed to protecting the Republic, but the Jedi Council has moved from Coruscant to the ancient Jedi homeworld of Tython.

The Republic has trained up new squads of Special Forces, disciplined teams capable of working together with near-perfect efficiency. These elite troopers still work often in conjunction with the Jedi, but in many places, the troopers have taken the prominent role in providing the Republic's defense.

Despite a post-war economic depression and the continued expansion of its enemies, the spirit of the Republic remains independent, brave, and strong. New leaders are stepping forward even now to stand against the dark Sith Empire, liberate the galaxy, and restore the Republic to its former glory.

The Empire

The true origins of the Sith remain shrouded in mystery. The Sith race was, in fact, largely unimportant until three thousand years ago, when Dark Jedi exiles arrived on Korriban and subjugated the Sith beneath their rule and their philosophy.

As the years passed, the Dark Jedi intermarried with those they ruled, and within generations, the word "Sith" took on new meaning. This powerful new civilization began expanding rapidly, led by a growing population of ambitious dark Force-users. Fifteen hundred years ago, the Sith civilization's boundaries reached the Republic, and the Great Hyperspace War began.

Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow led his armies in an aggressive campaign to destroy the Galactic Republic. Though the Sith were successful at first, the Jedi Order rallied back to defeat their dark counterparts, systematically destroying the Sith civilization on Korriban.

Unbeknownst to the Jedi however, the last Emperor of the Sith managed to escape the carnage and fled into Deep Space with his most trusted Dark Lords. These surviving Sith began rebuilding their society on a distant planet, hoping to one-day return for revenge.

Over the course of the next thousand years, the Sith Empire recovered its strength. The Emperor developed a massive Imperial military, a fleet of advanced warships, and undertook dark rituals which prolonged his life and his undisputed rule.

When the time for vengeance arrived, the Sith began infiltrating star systems in the Outer Rim, sowing seeds of discord and making secret deals with local criminals and warlords. With all the pieces perfectly in place, the Sith launched an enormous offensive which caught the Jedi completely off-guard. In the first wave alone, the Sith succeeded in seizing control of several star systems in the Outer Rim, destroying the Republic's shipyards in the Sluis sector, and strangling the popular Rimma Trade Route.

After the initial crush, the Emperor's brilliant strategies continued and the brutal force of the Imperial military slammed the Republic time and time again, from the deep sinkholes of Utapau to the tall forests of Agamar. Though it seemed the Empire was capable of waging war indefinitely, the Emperor surprised the Republic yet again.

While the Emperor's Dark Council engaged Republic leaders in peace talks, several Sith Lords and an elite Imperial army sacked the Republic's capital planet. Destroying the Jedi Temple and holding the planet hostage, the Sith left Republic leaders no choice but to surrender several outlying star systems by signing the Treaty of Coruscant.

Since the treaty, the Emperor has withdrawn to pursue his own mysterious goals, deferring control to the Dark Council, and setting the stage for a brutal power struggle. In the political vacuum, the strongest and most cunning Sith and Imperial leaders are rising up to assume authority, consolidate the Empire's dominion and crush its enemies.

In the new Xbox Live experience, much of the interface is designed to cascade horizontally across the screen, allowing users to see a wide selection of choices. On HD TVs, users will be able to see even more information, given the wider screen.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Whether you're one of the legions of hard-core Xbox players or someone who's only played with the game console casually, get ready for an all-new Xbox Live.

Since the first announcement of the new approach to the massively popular service at E3 in July, some longtime fans have fretted that Microsoft is morphing it into a place for purely casual players at the expense of those for whom Xbox Live is nearly as much a home as where they actually live.

Well, based on a demo I got recently of the (not quite finished) new version of Xbox Live, I'd have to say, fret no more.

Dubbed the new "Xbox Live Experience," this re-launched service--which is rumored to be launching in November, but which Microsoft will only say is due "before Christmas"--really does seem to have something for everyone: an easy-to-use graphical interface complete with deeply customizable avatars that casual players will enjoy, and all kinds of new functionality that will actually reward the dedication of the hard-core Xbox player.

With the new Xbox Live interface, users will be able to see all information relevant to their account in a simpler, easier-to-understand format.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft readily admits that there may be a bit of a transition period for those core players--a time during which a lot of griping might be heard--but the company fully expects a gradual realization on the part of those players that the new service takes the existing Xbox Live and adds all kinds of new community and interactive functions to it.

And, again, I would have to agree.

To date, the Xbox Live interface has been based on what are called blades, essentially pages of information stacked on top of each other in such as way as to maximize the number of choices Xbox Live players have and the directions in which they can go. They can see lists of games to play, choose to watch a movie, go into a section to buy add-ons for games, and so on. The new interface largely does away with the blades era and moves into a more advanced motif of full windows that spread out on the screen and stretch off into the distance, allowing users to shuttle through them, left to right or right to left.

But that's getting a little too far ahead.

While wearing a motion-capture suit, CNET reporter Kara Tsuboi shows how her movements are translated instantly to an 'Iron Man' character on the screen behind her. The technique is used in an increasing number of films to mix live-action footage with digital, 3D sets.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News)

SAN FRANCISCO--On Tuesday, the DVD version of the mega-hit film Iron Man will be released, and to celebrate, the visual effects superstars at Industrial Light & Magic decided to show off just a little bit more magic behind the movie.

Back in April, ILM invited me and a couple of my colleagues to their fantastic facilities here for a look at the technology behind the famous suit used in Iron Man. Recently, they invited us back to see how the seamless animation in some of the film's scenes--such as one famous shot involving the throwing of an Audi--was produced.

In particular, they wanted to give us the inside scoop on the motion-capture technology used to create a number of the film's scenes, a technology that is increasingly being used today that allows directors to see, in real time, while the actors are acting, what animated sequences will look like.

That's why we--myself, CNET reporter Kara Tsuboi, and a cameraman--spent several hours on an ILM image capture stage last week: So that Tsuboi could don a motion-capture suit and we could all see how footage of her would translate instantly into an animated Iron Man scene.

The idea is that George Lucas--who owns the effects studio--wants to give filmmakers advanced technological tools that provide them with flexibility and efficiency. And so he staffs ILM with the kinds of people who can make that happen.

"We understand the entire process," said , "from writing code to animating creatures to even shooting live elements. So we know each layer in the process. We understand the vision of the key creatives and understand" what the actors are going to do.

The technology used at ILM--and elsewhere, as well--allows directors to mix real filmmaking and virtual spaces, but with full camera control, depth of field, tracking, and panning. The upshot? A filmmaker can have an entire digital set created, then have an actor perform on the image capture stage wearing the motion-capture suit, and see, as the filming is happening, how the actor's character looks superimposed on the digital background.

'Star Wars' creator George Lucas made a surprise appearance Monday night at the launch event in San Francisco for the new video game, 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.' Click the image above for a full gallery of game launch photos.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News)

Update 12:27 p.m.: This story has been modified to reflect comment from LucasArts about interest in the game, as evidenced by pre-sales and number of sales at retail.

SAN FRANCISCO--George Lucas was the "surprise" special guest at the official launch party Monday night here for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the new video game that marks the latest chapter in the epic story line. And despite his only making a two-minute speech, most on hand were excited at the rare opportunity to see him.

Indeed, Lucas doesn't venture into public very often, so for many of the people who had come to line up to buy the new game when it went on-sale at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, his appearance and quick talk were a treat.

The event took place Monday evening at a Best Buy outlet in this city's Mission district, an odd choice of venues for the launch of what many have been calling one of the biggest video games of the year.

On the other hand, the place was packed, something that one store employee said was a very unusual occurrence. So, all in all, the energy generated may have been worth it for Lucas and his crew.

A man dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi makes some of the guests at the launch event smile.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News)

The new game, known by many simply as The Force Unleashed, is the first Star Wars game to be considered by Lucas an actual chapter in the overall story line that begins with the three prequel films--The Phantom Menace; Attack of the Clones; and Revenge of the Sith--continues with this summer's animated film, The Clone Wars and then, of course, concludes with the original three films, Star Wars; The Empire Strikes Back; and Return of the Jedi.

In the new game, the main character, played by actor Sam Witwer, is an apprentice of Darth Vader, and the story line centers on that apprentice's path to redemption.

Two fans pose for pictures bearing light sabers at the San Francisco launch party for the new video game, 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.'

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News)

SAN FRANCISCO--In four hours, the latest--and maybe greatest--Star Wars game, The Force Unleashed, will go on sale.

No one knows if the game will be a best-seller, but if you judged by the energy at the Best Buy in this city's Mission District on Monday night, where the game's official launch event is being held, it's got a bright future.

There is a special guest scheduled to speak in about 15 minutes, and by now, it's no secret that it will be George Lucas himself.

For now, however, fans of the game--and hired hands--are milling around the Best Buy here in all kind of Star Wars costumes, and every now and then I hear the easily recognized beep bleep bloop sound of R2-D2.

Stay tuned to this blog for more on this event as the evening goes on.

Darth Vader 'chokes' a Best Buy employee at the launch party for 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed' on Monday night.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News)