Xbox Live, PSN, and the Digital Future

        Video games are huge in today’s society and they are not going away anytime soon. There is a modern day renaissance of gaming underway and tons of titles coming out every year.  The traditional method of game release is changing with the rise of new technology and digital downloads.  Video game powerhouses Microsoft and Sony both have their online networks to distribute games and other content.  They are both very similar to each other while remaining different, with exclusive software and services.  It pretty much comes down to gamer’s console of choice.

Microsoft has their Xbox Live service for their Xbox 360 game console, which started out on their original Xbox in 2002.  Nowadays it is only on Xbox 360 and Windows Phones with an annual subscription fee of $59.99, which includes online gaming as well as all their other services.  Users make an avatar to go along with their Xbox Live ID that tracks their game progress and stats through achievements.  In addition to match making online gaming, users get access to the Xbox Live Arcade store and Zune Marketplace.  Here users can purchase exclusive Xbox Live Arcade games, Indie games, game add-on content, Games on demand, HD movies, and TV shows.  You can also stream last.fm, Hulu, ESPN, and Netflix. Xbox Live has their own Twitter and Facebook interfaces for social media.  You can do all this online while connecting with friends and other users through friend lists.  Now users can even take the experience mobile if they have a Windows mobile phone.  Their account and avatar carry over as if they were playing at home on their Xbox 360.  The $59.99 a year goes to dedicated servers to ensure games run smoothly and the network is always on.  Find more information on Xbox Live at their website, http://www.xbox.com:80/en-US/live.

Sony has their PlayStation Network (PSN), which supports their PlayStation 3 console as well as their handheld PlayStation Portable (PSP).  PSN is completely free to play online games, make an avatar, and create a PSN ID to have their game progress and stats tracked through trophies.  Unlike Microsoft they do no charge a fee but they do have a PlayStation Plus package for $49.99 a year.  This fee is for premium users who want the most of their PlayStation 3.  In addition to free games and content every month, the system auto updates so players never need to sit through another update screen again.  In addition to match making online gaming, users get access to the PlayStation store where users can purchase exclusive PSN games, game add-on content, HD movies, and TV shows.  You can also stream Hulu, Netflix, and access the Qriocity music service.  Users do all this online while connecting with friends and other users through friend lists and unique simulation experience called PlayStation Home.  In Home, players bring their avatars to life and interact with each other in different game worlds and locations.  Home members can chat, dance, watch movies, play games, or just hang out in a 3D world on their PlayStation.  Now users can even take the PSN experience mobile if they have a PSP, which can access all these great features.  PSP owners can also download motion comics and connect and stream all their content from their PlayStation 3 system at home by remote.  Sony’s network offers a lot for being free but it was recently hacked and was down for about a month.  While this is an inconvenience for a lot of people and made Sony lose face with its users, perhaps they will look to service fees like Microsoft has for dedicated protected servers so this does not happen again.  Check out http://us.playstation.com/psn/, for more information on PlayStation Network.

With these great online networks both on consoles hooked up to your TV and in your pocket with games and other content on demand it is only going to further digital downloads.  Traditional disc media is not going away anytime soon but with indie developers making more and more games exclusive to Xbox Live and PSN it looks to be going in that direction.  Most Triple-A disc based games are available for direct download and all add-on content for these games is digital download only.  Look for these networks to grow over the years to come each with new products and services.  The good news is with each one being so competitive with the other, it is only a matter of time before each network has the others features.  It is all personal preference and most hardcore gamers today are subscribing as members to both.

Distributors' Social Networks

Social Networks are popping up all over the Internet and are the latest trend.  They help us connect to each other through our shared interests and passions.  In the last year, a lot of companies have noticed this trend and created pages related to their businesses.  Nowadays, it seems that every business has a “follow us” on Twitter or Facebook somewhere in their marketing.  A few companies have taken this idea a step farther and created their own propriety social networks to help them promote and distribute content.

One such company is the current technology innovation king, Apple.  Last year, Apple released their special social network, Ping, that is built right into their iTunes program.  Apple requires iTunes for its customers to manage their music and other digital content.  Having their own social network for music built right into their store offers a unique way for people to connect and share their music.  It is basically Facebook meets Twitter meets iTunes, all for free.  It was a great move for Apple because as soon as they made Ping live they had a potential user base of 160 million users in 23 different countries.  With customers already familiar with how to use iTunes, and who may have never used Facebook or Twitter, it is a great way to bring a new audience to the social media scene.  Users can make a profile and see what their friends and favorite artists are listening to and downloading.  Ping also has partnered with Live Nation to provide concert listings for the artists as well.  Ping is becoming the one premiere site for social networking about music.

Another company is AMC theaters.  AMC recently launched their AMC Stubs program, which is a reward and social networking site for AMC moviegoers.  It costs $12 a year to join and offers rewards galore.  For every $100 dollars you spend, you get $10 back as well as free concession upgrades.  Once a member, you get your own online ticket stub collection of all the movies you have seen.  This way you can always have the memories of going to the movies and sharing what you liked and saw with friends.  The service also waives all online fees for buying tickets so you can buy a ticket and go straight to the theater with no extra charges or hassle.  This is not a game changer by any means, but a nice step by a traditional movie theater company into the realm of social networking.  It will be interesting to see what AMC does with this in future and whether other movie companies will look to jump on board with similar sites.

These distributor social networks are a great way for these companies to maintain business while keeping up with social media trends.  With the amount of time people are spending on social networking sites, Apple and AMC have found a way to incorporate that into their business.  They have begun to further blur the line between social media and online stores.  For more on Apple’s Ping and AMC Stubs check out their official websites, http://www.apple.com/itunes/ping/ and https://www.amcstubs.com/.

Entertainment Attorney George Kaiafas Interview

Starting a company in the entertainment industry can be tricky business.  “Having a good entertainment lawyer is important from the very start,” says George Kaiafas, of Kaiafas & Kaiafas, Attorneys at Law.  I recently had a chance to interview George about his experiences in the entertainment law field. I also sought his advice on what new entertainment industry businesses need to do to start up right.

Harrison Goodbinder: Can you give me some background on you and how you ended up as an Entertainment Attorney?

George Kaiafas: I studied Political Science and Media Studies at Fordham University before attending New York Law School in New York City. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I was involved in artist management at the time. I was working with and booking bands, and found entertainment law a good fit.  I passed the Bar Exam in New York in 2004, and have been practicing ever since.  I am part of a firm with my brother, based in Chicago.  I consider myself a transactional attorney.

            HG: What types of cases does a transactional attorney usually work on?

GK: I work on all types, but mostly band management and contract deals.  It is primarily contract development and paper pushing.  It can involve anything from music to film, new media, blogs, trademarks, copyrights, and even web apps now.  I try and avoid going to court as often as possible.  One case I am working on now for a band, their label, and a promotions company, is all over the place.  The band is in Omaha, NE and their manager is in California.  The label is in New Jersey and I’m in New York. The producers are in Atlanta, GA so getting everyone on a call or the same page can be tricky.

HG: Sounds a lot like Full Sail Online for me.  Do you have any advice for grad students like me, or anyone for that matter, who are starting new businesses in the entertainment industry?

GK: Yes, having a good entertainment lawyer is important from the very start.  Even if you don’t think you need one it will help you in the long run.  Like founding a business, is it L.L.C. or corporation?  It’s good to have legal advice and someone to do the paperwork for you from the start.

HG: I’m starting my own specialized entertainment labor company called JAFB.  We do business with a lot of high-end clients.  We are subcontractors for some, as well as having our own vendors and alliance partners.  We have lots of non-disclosure and non-compete clauses that are confusing.  Do you have any advice for dealing with our current contracts and any on making our own?

GK: I got a non-compete on my desk right now actually.  Unfortunately most non-disclosure and non-compete agreements you have to sign if you want the job, there’s really no way around that.  If you are going to work with a bunch of different vendors like that then you should have your own non-disclosure form.  That is something I could easily help you with and it sounds like you have a cool business idea.

George had a lot of great information and advice for me.  With the way the world is now a days, it is so important to have a good lawyer in your corner for legal advice on anything that may come up in any business.  I am excited to have such an attorney in George.  Please find more information on George Kaiafas and his practice Kaiafas & Kaiafas, Attorneys at Law at their website, http://kaiafaslaw.com/.

Recent Entertainment Industry Liabilities in New York City

New York City is the arguably at the center of the world and one of the major entertainment industry hubs.  As such, New York City sees more than its fair share of entertainment industry liabilities.  2010 was big year for Broadway and New York Fashion Week seeing some of their highest numbers in recent years, but they were not without their controversies.

Broadway was treated with its most expensive musical to date, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.  The show has still yet to open as numerous script rewrites and even worse technical issues.  A miscue on Monday, December 20, gave way Christopher Tierney, a Spidey stunt double, falling more 20 ft. from a platform near the end of the run.  He was then rushed away by ambulance and the production halted.  This has brought many questions of safety and of rushing to open the high profile production.  ‘Spider-Man’ Versus OSHA is a great article about the production and the OHSA investigation that followed Mr. Tierney’s fall.  Spider-Man should hopefully finally open on June 14^th.

New York Fashion Week went through a few changes last year moving its tents from Bryant Park uptown to Lincoln Center.  This brought a few changes but the biggest was that fact that Lincoln Center is an IATSE Local 1 union venue.  The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) is the union stage crew labor in New York City.  Bryant Park was not a union venue and most fashion companies used non-union labor to put on their shows.  But with the new union venue, IATSE wants in, which means higher costs of labor to fashion designers and even worse non-union laborers out of work.  A great article about the labor battle is Ugly Battle Brewing Over Fashion Week from the Wall Street Journal.  IATSE agreed to go with half union labor and half non-union for September 2010.  It was 70-30 union labor last February.  It will be interesting to see what happens this coming September.

As much as there is fight for the fashion industry behind the scenes labor, there are no patents or copyrights for the actual fashions that are displayed on the runway.  A recent TED.com talk I saw really puts it all in prospective.  Johanna Blakley: Lessons from fashion's free culture explains how fashion designers only have trademark protection and that’s it.  A sleeve can’t be copyrighted or patented as everybody is wearing one.  It is too utilitarian to quality for copyright protection.  As such, designers are free to borrow and share with each other to come up with the next hot, new thing.  This collaboration is key the innovation of fashion.  If this kind of collaboration was used in more in heavily copyrighted industries such as movies, it would be wonder to the see what films could be made.  For example, super heroes teaming up that normally never would because rival studios own the rights.  It would make better movies like fashion makes better clothes.  I doubt this would ever happen but one can hope.  Other industries could learn a thing or two from fashion to help them innovate in the future.

New York City sees its share of cultural and a wide variety of events from all aspects of the entertainment industry.  There are many more liabilities than the few I discussed here, but they all eventually get resolved, and I would expect nothing less from the city that never sleeps.

City Theatrical: A Supplier of Unique and Innovative Theatrical Lighting Products

City Theatrical, found on the web at http://www.citytheatrical.com/, is the leading innovator in unique theatrical lighting supply products.  They have found the industry niche of supplying custom lighting accessories for lighting fixtures regardless of the manufacturer.  Manufacturers make the lights but they do not supply the top hats, irises, and barn doors.  This is where city theatrical comes in.  They supply these important accessories for all lights.  They make each unique accessory slightly different sized to fit many manufacturers, like Vari-lite, High End Systems, ETC, Altman, Color Kinetics, and Martin just to name a few.  They also have designed some of their own innovative products for the industry based on the needs and the wants of the people.  Here are three of the highlights.

The first product is the City Theatrical AutoYoke.  It was the first device to turn a traditional stage lighting fixture into a moving light fixture.  It gives all the advantages of a moving light at a faction of the cost.  A theater only needs to invest an AutoYoke instead of a full moving light.  The space can then use any existing stage light they already have in their inventory.  The AutoYoke can fit almost any fixture making it one of City’s hottest selling and most useful products.

The next product is City’s SHoW DMX, their proprietary wireless DMX system.  City is the first company to release a decently reliable wireless DMX system.  This is huge in the industry because wireless DMX replaces long cable runs that used to have to be run to the light.  In addition to the SHoW DMX, some lights also have an optional battery pack to eliminate the need for cable runs at all.  This new wireless age of theatrical lighting can lead to a big industry change.  What use to take a whole crew a day to run cables, can now be done by one guy in a few hours.  This is still a ways off but is now something that can only be possible due to the geniuses over at City.

The last product is more a product line that City makes exclusively for Color Kinetics by Philips.  Color Kinetics is a leader in high quality LEDs for all types of applications.  City theatrical supplies all the accessory products.  These include all sorts of lighting attachments to focus the lights as well as wireless DMX and battery packs.  They also have controllers and power supplies that do all sorts of preprogrammed LED features.  The City Theatrical and Color Kinetics partnership is a great example of how companies can work together and create products that work together and provide mutual benefit to each other.

City Theatrical has made a name for itself creating the innovative and unique lighting products and accessories the people need.  They have become the industry leader and work with various companies to come out with new, fresh product ideas.  City also does custom work and will work with whoever necessary to come up with the product that is needed for the unique application.  This ingenuity and drive to stay current in the market will keep them on top for years to come.

Nintendo 3DS, An Innovative New Product

Nintendo is one of the oldest and most innovative technology companies on the planet.  Founded in 1889, Nintendo has been the leading innovator in gaming for more than 100 years now.  In 1985, they brought home gaming to the North American masses with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).  In 1989, they released the super popular Game Boy for gaming in your pocket.  In 1996, they came out with first controller Rumble Pak so gamers could feel the game in your hand, a feature all the competitors quickly adopted.  In 2006, they came out with the Nintendo Wii, the world’s first motion gaming.  Radically different, it’s something Nintendo’s competitors only caught up with in 2010, with the Sony Move and Xbox Kinect.  And on March 27, 2011 Nintendo will raise the innovation bar again with the release of the new Nintendo 3DS.

The Nintendo 3DS is the first of its kind, a portable handheld device that does gameplay and movies in stunning 3D, all without the need for the 3D glasses.  Nintendo is the first company on the scene to introduce the first 3D screen without glasses and the device will come with a 3D slider switch to adjust how 3D the image is or make it plain 2D.  The 3D, while warned not for children, is supposed to offer stunning visuals with no eye fatigue.  It will play new 3DS games as well as all regular DSi and DS titles.  It offers an analog stick, a d-pad, various face and shoulder buttons, a touch screen and stylus, two front cameras as well as a rear camera, a microphone, a gyroscope, and an accelerometer.  These are all used for a variety of precision gameplay controls and options.  The 3DS also uses the front cameras as one 3D camera and photo editing software for it built in.  This is just one of a ton of other features preloaded.  These include VR games, sound and music editing software, Internet browser, online connectivity just to name a few, as well as an eShop for future download content (DLC).  It also comes with charge cradle and 2GB SD card compliments of Nintendo.  These are for game saves and so the unit can be in sleep mode with a game on indefinitely, without the need for turning it off and charging.  It can also connect wirelessly with other 3DS’s while in sleep mode.  The technology this thing is loaded with is incredible.  But how much?

             At $249, it is reasonably priced and sure to fly off of stores shelves at launch.  A whole new era of portable gaming is ushered in on March 27^th.  I myself have preordered mine and will be at Best Buy when it opens.  Preorder yours today at Best Buy, http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Video-Games-Gadgets/Nintendo-3DS/pcmcat232900050000.c?id=pcmcat232900050000.

            The Nintendo 3DS is an exciting, innovative, new product that is driving forward and pushing the limits of various types of technologies involved in making it.  The 3D screen without the need for glasses being the biggest, and opening the door for the possibly of bigger 3D TVs in our living rooms without having to wear glasses.  I wonder what would then come next, holograms?  For more on Nintendo 3DS check out the official website, http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.

NY Fashion Week Purchasing Manager Negotiating Interview