RiTdisplay forecast first year organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and polymer OLED (PLED) sales of $1.5-$2.3 million, including $240,000-$400,000 from Dupont. Latter, which has 8% stake in RiTdisplay, has contracted company to build OLEDs for its joint venture with Three-Five Systems. RiTdisplay, subsidiary of Ritek Group, made projections as it opened new plant in Taiwan. Yellow light process equipment was installed at factory in Oct. and is to be followed by thin film and packaging gear by year-end. Production of mono OLEDs is to ramp up in 2nd quarter, color versions in 3rd quarter.

VR1 Entertainment said it had new title in development, Lost Continents, which it described as “massively” multiplayer role- playing game in tradition of Jules Verne, King Kong and pulp serials of 1930s. Company said title was set for 2003 release, platforms not specified.

Majority of consumers believe VHS tapes will preserve family memories for lifetime, unaware that analog videotapes can degrade “to a point where they are unwatchable in as little as 15 years.” So said results of DVD consumer study commissioned by Pioneer to promote sales of DVR-7000 DVD-RW recorder just arriving at retail at $1,800. Pioneer said DVR-7000 and DVR-A03 DVD-RW burner for PCs provide “a reliable way to archive home videos that are playable on most DVD players, just in time for the holidays.”

SonicBlue plans to launch retail and e-tail sales of controversial ReplayTV personal video recorder (PVR) despite lawsuit filed by major TV networks alleging copyright infringement (CED Nov 28 p4).

TDK next April will consolidate 8 of its electronics parts production subsidiaries in northeastern Japan into 3 with goal of improving manufacturing efficiencies and streamlining administrative functions. Company previously had imposed cost- cutting voluntary retirement program at 13 subsidiaries it operates in region.

GameSpy Industries released Xbox version of its popular GameSpy Arcade PC game matchmaking service. Free software, which provides multiplayer Xbox gaming support, is available at GameSpy Web site.

Sigma Designs reported 3rd quarter loss widened to $1.6 million from $666,000 year ago as net revenue fell to $3.4 million from $5.4 million. Sigma has suffered from decline in demand for MPEG-based board products and chipsets in PC market, downturn it has tried to offset with commercial video streaming and set-top box products. Commercial video streaming represented 55% of revenue in quarter, followed by STBs (30%) and PCs (15%). Sigma also has started sample shipments of full-resolution MPEG-4 chipset that it expects to have in volume production by early 2003. MPEG-4 chipset is being integrated for streaming applications by Envivio and iVast. Chipset is expected to be priced in “high teens” in volume in 2003, company said. Sigma also has developed personal video recorder reference design with Stream Machine.

Mobile entertainment service provider JAMDAT Mobile said it had worked with Intel to improve performance of entertainment applications on wireless handsets. L.A.-based JAMDAT said Intel’s Flash Data Integrator technology loaded into Motorola’s Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) handset using JAMDAT’s J2ME Golf application had created 500% improvement in write performance and 300% improvement in read performance. JAMDAT said increased data transfer rates within handset’s memory chips translated into faster gameplay in form of quicker scrolling and speedier plays. Company created wireless game Gladiator, which JAMDAT said had attracted more than one million unique users and generated more than 14 million min. of air time since Oct. 2000 rollout.

Square Electronic Arts (SEA) said it would start shipping “limited quantities” of T- (Teen) rated PS2 game Final Fantasy X ($50) to retail stores throughout U.S. Dec. 26 instead of Jan. 2002 as scheduled. Title was released in Japan July 19 and sold through 90% of 2.14 million units shipped in first 4 days, company said, calling game “first PlayStation 2 title to reach the 2 million-unit mark.” SEA Pres. Jun Iwasaki said “all efforts were put into bringing the title out earlier than expected” in U.S. SEA, exclusive publisher of all Squaresoft games in N. America, said it would hold one-day event Dec. 15 offering gamers chance to demonstrate title before its release. “Consumer Demo Day” will be in PlayStation store in San Francisco, where gamers also will have opportunity to win prizes and get free promotional item while supplies last. Title is being released in DVD format and is compatible with Dualshock 2 analog controller, SEA said. Company said Final Fantasy game series had sold more than 35 million units worldwide to date. But popularity of series in game arena hasn’t been duplicated in movie theaters. Failure of computer-animated feature film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was cited by parent company Square Co. Mon. as primary reason why it reported largest-ever loss in its history (CED Nov 27 p5).

Top-selling DVD at Sam Goody stores over Thanksgiving weekend was How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Best Buy subsidiary said. Rounding out top 5 were 2001 version of Planet of the Apes, Shrek, Tomb Raider, Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace.