Clarification: Interactive Entertainment Merchants Assn. (IEMA) Pres. Hal Halpin, commenting on letter Sens. Kohl (D-Wis.) and Lieberman (D-Conn.) sent to IEMA criticizing its members for selling Mature-rated games to children (CED Dec 17 p5), said: “We appreciate the kind words of praise Senators Lieberman and Kohl had for both the IEMA and our efforts made in the past year regarding the industry’s role in selling content deemed unsuitable for minors. Many of our member companies have made significant investments in register-prompting and in-store education policies while under no obligation to do so. We recognize that more [needs to] be done, and that we have a role to play in the process. The IEMA will respond to the challenges voiced by the senators and continue working with all relevant parties in this matter, but again reiterate the need for patience when implementing long-term nationwide education policies and systems.”

Online videogaming will soar in popularity over next 5 years, but online PC titles will continue to account for majority of subscription revenue on Internet until at least 2006, Jupiter Media Metrix said in report Connected Consoles: Preparing for the Next Cycle. Jupiter said it projected subscription revenues from online PC games would total $1.5 billion by 2006, but connected console gaming subscription revenue would hit only $250 million.

Voice-controlled remote control from Panasonic was introduced in Japan for digital satellite HDTV sets. Company said use of voice control reduced handset buttons to 14 from 71. Instructions spoken into microphone on handset are relayed to TV by infrared light, Panasonic said.

Nuwave Technologies further expanded distribution for its Video Game Enhancer (VGE). N.Y.-based company said BestBuy.com, Boscov’s, BrandsMart USA, Datavision and Trans World’s FYE chain now will sell VGE in U.S. Meanwhile, Nuwave said deal with game distributor Joellenbeck/Interact represents VGE’s entry into German market. Nuwave said latest retail agreements increased VGE distribution to 3,000 retail outlets. Company already had signed distribution deals with retailers and distributors including Electronics Boutique, Fry’s Electronics, GameStop, HMV in Europe, J&R Music and Computer World, Jack of All Games, Toysrus.com. Nuwave says VGE, which started shipping 5 months ago, improves resolution of images of games played on console systems. It said product “is the first in [its] planned series of video set-top box retail products.” Nuwave CEO Jerry Zarin said company’s image enhancement technology “has potential broad applications including video surveillance and medical imaging.”

Echoing findings of 6th annual Video & Computer Game Report Card by National Institute on Media & the Family (NIMF) (CED Dec 14 p4), Sens. Kohl (D-Wis.) and Lieberman (D-Conn.) criticized members of Interactive Entertainment Merchants Assn. (IEMA) for continuing to sell Mature (M) rated titles to children.

Ubi Soft Entertainment offered optimistic prediction Fri. for its 3rd quarter and full financial year. French game maker said it expected “sales in excess of 150 million euros [$135.63 million] for the 3rd quarter” and “for the 2001-2002 financial year, Ubi Soft remained confident that it can meet its sales target of between 350 [$316.48 million] and 365 million euros [$330.04 million], with [net profitability] between 4% and 5%.” Company attributed positive outlook to sales results for next- generation game consoles. Ubi Soft said introductions of GameCube and Xbox in U.S. and strong PlayStation 2 (PS2) sales in Europe were “driving the videogames sector.” Game maker said: “Combined with the fact that Microsoft and Nintendo have increased their production capacity due to demand that is stronger than initially forecast, this gives backing to the company’s assumptions that the worldwide videogame market could grow by between 5% and 10% in 2001.” Company posted sales of 113.4 million euros ($102.54 million) in first half -- increase of 72% from 65.7 million euros ($59.41 million) year ago. Company posted operating income of 400,000 euros ($361,726) for first 6 months, reversing 5.3 million euro operating loss (-$4.79 million) year ago. But Ubi Soft reported 2.8 million euro loss (-$2.53 million) after goodwill for first half, compared with 1.6 million euro profit ($1.45 million) in same period year earlier. Company also said closeout deals in 2nd quarter caused gross margin to fall 59%.

Candescent Technologies, field emission display (FED) developer that raised more than $600 million in venture capital, is abandoning hardware plans but will continue to seek licensees and/or buyer for its technology.

Verizon Wireless said it would provide “advanced voice and data” component of Wingcast telematic service to be introduced next year. Wingcast is joint venture of Ford and Qualcomm and first telematics offering will be available in certain Ford and Nissan vehicles, company said. Exclusive deal allows Verizon to offer Wingcast customers voice-activated services over its national CMDA network, including emergency services, high-speed data, location-based applications. Wingcast will develop wireless voice plans exclusive to customer base and deliver telematics services over Verizon network. In areas where Verizon’s more advanced 1XRTT data network is available, Wingcast said it would develop services such as e-mail, enterprise software, Internet and company intranet access, commercial information, instant messaging, streaming video.

Households with multiple PCs or Internet access are more likely to rent VHS tapes and DVDs, buy pay-per-view (PPV) programming and pay $50 or more per month for cable or satellite service, said report from Knowledge Networks/Statistical Research (KN/SRI). It said use of computers, Internet and TV wasn’t mutually exclusive. It said that, compared with homes with no computers, homes with 2 or more PCs were about twice as likely to have rented VHS tape in last month (64% vs. 34%) and to be paying $50 or more per month for cable or satellite service (31% vs. 15%). Report said PPV purchases in last month were more than 3 times higher in multiple-PC homes (14% vs. 4%). Similarly, homes with online access were 50% more likely to have rented VHS tape in last month (57% vs. 37%) than non-Internet homes and were nearly twice as likely to be paying premium prices for cable service (25% vs. 15%). “This is clear evidence that the relationship between a household’s TV use and PC/Internet use is not a zero-sum game,” said David Tice of KN/SRI.

Zenith cut price $5,000 on 60W plasma display panel (PDP) to $19,999 and said it would begin program offering $50-$150 rebate on purchase on 27-36” direct-view high-definition (HD) capable sets. It also postponed to 2003 its plans for introducing DVD-RW recorder because of copy protection concerns and format war.