A sold-out crowd celebrated Hollywood’s top technical achievements at the HPA Awards 2022, where FotoKem’s David Cole took top feature film honors in color grading for Warner Bros. Pictures’ “The Batman” and Picture Shop’s Steven Bodner was recognized for the “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?” episode of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Amazon Web Services’ Color in the Cloud was one of four corporate efforts to take home a coveted Engineering Excellence Award. The technology is capable of lossless image quality using JPEG XS over AWS Direct Connect, AWS VPN or the open Internet. Continue reading Innovative Tech, Industry Leaders Celebrated at HPA Awards

After some false starts, Amazon has released its first hit original video game production, “New World,” and company CEO Andy Jassy is predicting games could become the biggest category in entertainment programming. The new MMORPG, fraught with archers and axe wielders colonizing a fantastical land, scored one of Steam’s biggest launches with more than one million players logging on for launch day last week. The momentum hasn’t slowed down, with more than 277,000 gameplay viewers on Amazon’s live streaming service Twitch and over 700,000 concurrent players on Steam. Continue reading Amazon Achieves Success in Gaming with MMO ‘New World’

Game publishers have discussed raising the cost of video games, set at $60 in the 1990s, for decades, and are finally moving ahead with a plan to raise the standard price to $70, despite the doubling of U.S. unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Take-Two Interactive Software was one of the first to offer a $70 game with “NBA 2K1.” Meanwhile, Microsoft promotes its Xbox Game Pass, a subscription service with 100+ titles for $10 per month. Sony plans to offer a subscription service with fewer titles. Continue reading Game Publishers Launch a Plan to Raise Game Prices to $70

Sony Interactive Entertainment cut the monthly fee of its subscription service PlayStation Now in half, from $20 per month to just under $10. It’s also added four new games: “God of War,” “Infamous Second Son,” “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” and “Grand Theft Auto V.” Because three of those come from Sony-owned studios, PS Now will be the only way to stream them live. PS Now, which debuted in 2014, has enjoyed a compounded annual growth rate of 40 percent. Its 700,000 subscribers pay for access to 800 games. Continue reading Sony Makes Push for Its PlayStation Now Streaming Service

Nintendo is finally releasing its super-popular Super Mario franchise to iPhones and iPads. Although the Super Mario games have been available on Nintendo portable devices since the early 1980s, this marks the first time that the company has released them to mobile devices made by another company, in this case Apple. With more than a half-billion copies sold since he first appeared in “Donkey Kong” in 1981, the iconic mustachioed plumber is believed to be the best-selling game franchise ever. Continue reading Nintendo Releases Super Mario Franchise on iPhones, iPads

Roku officially revealed the Roku 4, priced at $129.99, which supports 4K/Ultra HD and HDTVs, and features a new operating system, faster processor, improved Wi-Fi and more memory. Roku OS 7 improves users’ ability to discover specific content among its 3,000+ apps and channels. The company also unveiled an updated mobile app, which offers a streamlined design for Search, the Roku Feed and remote control from the smartphone. The Roku 4 joins several upgraded connected players from Amazon, Apple, Google and TiVo. Continue reading Roku 4 Media Player Delivers 4K Streaming, Discovery Updates

NextVR, a virtual reality technology and content company, introduced a 360-degree 3D virtual reality rig outfitted with six RED Epic Dragon cameras at IBC in Amsterdam last week. The “NextVR Virtual Reality Digital Cinema Camera System” supports the recording and live streaming of immersive, ultra high definition, stereoscopic content at 60fps and includes spatial audio capture. NextVR also unveiled VR content acquired with the equipment, displaying it on the new Samsung Gear VR headset. Continue reading IBC 2014: NextVR Unveils 360-Degree 3D VR Camera System