View Full Version : Microsoft gets an Emmy. I say Huh?
njiska
09-13-2005, 01:25 PM
From IGN:
Xbox Live Gets an Emmy
Move over, Charles in Charge.
by David Adams
September 12, 2005 - And you thought all that time playing Halo 2 instead of watching Boston Public was a waste. Microsoft's Xbox Live game service is being given an Emmy by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Technology and Advanced New Media.
At the 57th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards on September 29, the Academy will honor Microsoft's online gaming service for Outstanding Achievement in Multiplayer-Backend Console Game Technology. The awards recognize "ground-breaking work in television broadcast and production systems, interactive television and other new media technologies."
More than two million gamers currently subscribe to Xbox Live. The service will bridge generations with the Xbox 360 this fall, which launches with expanded Live service designed for the next-gen console.
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/650/650334p1.html
Wow. all i can say is wow.
mezrabad
09-13-2005, 01:32 PM
Tres bizarre.
Call me naive, maybe this happens all the time, but do we think Microsoft went to them first and said "hey, we want you to start considering videogames as part of television 'programming' because we're actually 'broadcasting' content to our Live users." or do we think the people at the Emmys came up with that all by themselves?
CocoVG
09-13-2005, 01:41 PM
Weird.
Good question, I wonder who came up with the idea too. However, the Live service is pretty fantastic, it doesn't surprise me that someone would want to recognize it with an award.
njiska
09-13-2005, 01:44 PM
Well MS can't even nominate themselves, so i'm wondering who in the academy did and why they voted for it. I mean Live is an amazing content distribution net work, but the emmy just seems out of place.
mezrabad
09-13-2005, 02:03 PM
I guess it could be analogous to having to buy a TV pilot at the store but after installing it you can view the rest of the series as they make it.
rbudrick
09-13-2005, 03:37 PM
Well MS can't even nominate themselves, so i'm wondering who in the academy did and why they voted for it.
Micro$oft ha$ way$ of convincing judge$.
Yes, I am extremely clever indeed.
-Rob
SlayerOfFurbies
09-13-2005, 03:44 PM
funny thing is Live is just an expansion of what sega did with the dreamcast....
i nominate sega for this award ... lol
Neil Koch
09-13-2005, 04:00 PM
funny thing is Live is just an expansion of what sega did with the dreamcast....
Well, all the DC offered (nice as it was at the time) was a way to play online and a rudimentary web browser. It didn't have voice capability, friends lists, downloadable content, etc. If we're going to nitpick, you might as well say that the Xband for Genesis/SNES was the real "first" for online console gaming.
njiska
09-13-2005, 04:25 PM
Well MS can't even nominate themselves, so i'm wondering who in the academy did and why they voted for it.
Micro$oft ha$ way$ of convincing judge$.
Yes, I am extremely clever indeed.
-Rob
That's why i was wondering who nominted them. Could be useful in the future. LOL
Vectorman0
09-13-2005, 10:28 PM
funny thing is Live is just an expansion of what sega did with the dreamcast....
Well, all the DC offered (nice as it was at the time) was a way to play online and a rudimentary web browser. It didn't have voice capability, friends lists, downloadable content, etc. If we're going to nitpick, you might as well say that the Xband for Genesis/SNES was the real "first" for online console gaming.
It did have voice capability, few developers took advantage of it. Also, you have to remember this was back when broadband just started picking up speed too. Some games didhave friends lists but on a game-to-game basis.
Cryomancer
09-14-2005, 11:32 AM
There was downloadable content too, although some of it was just to unlock stuff already on the disc. However some of that stuff took up a good chunk of VMU space, so there had to be some data there.
kevates
09-14-2005, 11:45 AM
sorry for the double post
kevates
09-14-2005, 11:45 AM
What about the Gameline service for the 2600? And the emmy goes to... Control Video Corporation... later - AOL
http://www.steverd.com/what26/what12.jpg
Q: What was Gameline?
A: Gameline was a service offered by Control Video Corporation that admitted the downloading of games to the the 2600 over regular phone lines. The Gameline used a variable 800-2000 baud modem, according to Kevin Horton's no-longer-there Gameline Page. The Gameline Master Module originally sold for $49.95 and there was a one-time membership fee of $15. Charges were about $.10 a game or $1 for up to an hour of play. Contest games were $1 and there was a $.50 charge to enter a score. On your birthday, not only were you given free play for a day, but you also received a Happy Birthday screen, complete with cake, candles and music.
While the service did not last very long, the charred ashes of the service begat what is now AOL.
IntvGene
09-14-2005, 12:00 PM
It seems like the Atari 2600 is getting its Emmy too now.
"Atari will receive a rather belated award for its 2600 console under the category of Development and Impact in 8-Bit Consoles."
Link (http://next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1052&Itemid=2)
The question is who is getting the Emmy? Bushnell? Miner and the designers? Not the goddamn *new* Atari, I hope!
SoulBlazer
09-14-2005, 02:22 PM
Of course Atari will get it. They have the rights and patents of the old Atari systems and they can claim a direct link back to the old days. I still see it as being Atari, personaly. At least with the Flashback they are reconizing the rich history of the company.