Activision said Wed. it was in development on Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX 2 for Xbox and Game Boy Advance and Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer for Xbox GameCube and Game Boy Advance. No release dates were announced, but Activision said titles would carry $49.99 list prices for Xbox and GameCube, $39.99 for Game Boy Advance.
This year’s remake of Planet of the Apes arrives on DVD Tues. from Fox ($29.98). Nuon-enhanced disc has numerous extra features, including commentary by director Tim Burton. On same day, Fox will release 4-disc set of all 14 episodes of Planet of the Apes TV series.($49.98).
New version of music notation program is available, developer Sibelius Software said. Sibelius 2 program has more than 200 new features and enhancements compared with original software, including use of artificial intelligence to arrange and orchestrate music automatically. That feature was partly designed by Michael Price, whose orchestration credits include HBO Band of Brothers miniseries that concluded Nov. 11, Sibelius said. New version is for Windows PCs, with Mac OS-X version expected in first quarter (www.sibelius.com).
Next Superbit DVDs from Sony’s Columbia TriStar will be Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Gattaca, to be released Dec. 11 at $27.96 each. Superbit discs dispense with extra features in order to enhance video quality, doubling usual 3-4 Mbps data transfer rate to 6-8 Mbps.
New Toys “R” Us flagship store will open its doors in Times Sq. at 10:30 a.m. Sat. -- one day after first U.S. Pokemon store opens only blocks away in Rockefeller Plaza.
Annual Photo Mktg. Assn. show is scheduled for Feb. 24-27 at Orlando Convention Center in Fla. -- www.pmai.org.
Suggesting intellectual property law has First Amendment “under attack today as never before,” House Internet Caucus Co- Chmn. Boucher (D-Va.) vowed Wed. to introduce legislation to amend Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998. Boucher said copyright protection measures by content providers were infringing on fair use concept as applied by U.S. Supreme Court in 1984 Sony Betamax decision, with DMCA “a broad overreach.” Bill would join others already introduced this session by Boucher on intellectual property, in each case designed to protect end user of copyrighted materials.
OfficeMax cut 50 jobs at hq and is weighing closing stores after reporting wider-than-expected 3rd quarter loss and warning of difficult 4th quarter. OfficeMax said 3rd quarter net loss grew to $25.8 million from $22 million year ago as sales fell 8.5% to $1.19 billion on 7.9% decline in same-store sales. Chain plans to close unprofitable stores, but CEO Michael Feuer declined to disclose how many. OfficeMax earlier denied analyst report that it would shut 23 stores in Atlanta market. Closures and layoffs are part of company’s effort to trim expenses by $20 million through year-end and 2002. Cutting of 50 jobs in middle management and information technology will yield $3 million in annual cost savings, CFO Jeffrey Freimark said. OfficeMax also reduced number of new stores it will open in 2002 to 15-20 outlets and dropped new openings this year to 17 from 25. It has 993 outlets in 49 states, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Brazil, Mexico.
Lower contributions from Pokemon franchise caused 4Kids Entertainment to report drastically lower 3rd quarter profit of $1.49 million (11? per diluted share) vs. year-earlier $10.72 million (82?) on 60% lower revenue to $9.88 million. However, company reported positive results for promotional and licensing activities for its Cubix franchise. Licensee 3DO this month offered Cubix! Robots for Everyone for PlayStation and Game Boy.
CD Warehouse said 3rd quarter loss narrowed to $450,000 from $831,000 before impairment charges related to acquisition of Disc Go Round chain as revenue fell 9% to $6.8 million from $7.5 million. However, chain said same-store sales rose 4% on strong DVD sales and better inventory and customer service management.