Newsbriefs: More CES Emmys, DDR Indie Music Search, Guitar Hero 2 360 Lineup

Author: by Staff

[UPDATED: 3:41pm PST] Today's regularly updated newsbriefs include news of more game-related Emmys from this year's CES, Konami on the hunt for new Dance Dance Revolution community music, and new info on the Xbox 360's Guitar Hero II exclusive songs and features. - Games Media Properties, a division of the large William Morris Agency, best known as a film and literary agency, has announced the appointment of James Green as the company's chief executive officer and the addition of R. Michael Leo as a board member. According to company officials, Green will focus on Games Media Properties' 2007 digital media agenda, which includes growth of the World Series of Video Games competition . Leo will provide guidance and expertise to the company board in an effort to spur corporate growth for Games Media. Green has more than 20 years of experience in the marketing and distribution of television and film with major brands including the Walt Disney Company, Pixar, and Cablevision. In addition, Green was a founding partner of internet ad serving company Sabela Media, and served as CEO for wireless media firm GiantBear. - In addition to the recent news of Sony's DualShock controller walking away with a Technology and Engineering Emmy award and additional awards for its XMB interface, the official list of technical Emmy winners has been released and includes further game-related nominations and awards. The Emmy Award for Peripheral Development and Technological Impact of Video Game Controllers was jointly given to both Nintendo, said to be for its invention of the 'd-pad', and Sony Computer Entertainment America for its DualShock controller. John Carmack and id Software also were awarded an Emmy for Development of 3D Software Engines, for Carmack's contributions in rendering technology as the lead programmer on DOOM, and for the company's contributions in rendering tech for Quake. More information about the technical Emmys can be found at the Emmy website. - Officials from Konami have announced that the company has decided to again work with independent music website Broadjam.com in an effort to discover new songs for future editions of the popular rhythm game series Dance Dance Revolution. According to a statement released by Konami, members of Broadjam's user community will be able to upload their music to the contest website beginning on January 15 through February 28. Until March 7, the site's membership will be able to review and rate the songs submitted, and offer opinions as well, after which the results from the contest will determine which songs are presented to Konami. Two winners will be selected with each person receiving a cash prize as well as the opportunity to have their music featured in upcoming Dance Dance Revolution title to be released in 2007, as well as a cash prize of $1000. - RedOctane and Activision have announced new details on the forthcoming song lineup and downloadable content for this year's release of Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360. The companies have confirmed that the line-up of 70 songs will include 10 exclusives, including Alice Cooper's "Billion Dollar Babies", Deep Purple's "Hush", My Chemical Romance's "Dead!", Pearl Jam's "Life Wasted", and Rick Derringer's "Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo." A report from consumer site TeamXbox also adds unconfirmed specifics of 3 additional tracks, the Toadies' "Possum Kingdom", Rancid's "Salvation", and Iron Maiden's "The Trooper." In addition, the port's Xbox Live features will included themes, picture packs, and most importantly, new songs through Xbox Live Marketplace, as well as an online leaderboard for high score tracking. The Xbox 360 port of Guitar Hero II is expected to ship this spring. - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister alt.gaming weblog GameSetWatch include a rather vitriolic look at British developers, a world record run of Atari's classic vector arcade game Gravitar, and an announcement of a panel on prototyping at the upcoming 2007 Independent Games Summit. - The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website Serious Games Source include the release of a demo for NanoMission, an educational game that aims to teach players about the concepts of nanoscience. - The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website Game Career Guide include an overview of audio in the game industry, and news that the inaugural VFS Game Design Expo has sold out of attendee passes. - Also updated today: the latest Gamasutra job postings, including openings from 7 Studios, AiLive, Atlus U.S.A., Day 1 Studios, Fisher-Price, Flagship Studios, Hudson Entertainment, Slingo, and Volition.