Round-Up: X Quest Reality, MxO Server Merge, InDin 2005

Today's round-up includes news of a new video game-inspired reality show, a concatenation of servers for The Matrix Online, and the announcement of a games-based charity dinner in the UK, as well as the latest product news, Letter to the Editor, and job postings. - Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment and Halo co-creator Alex Seropian of Wideload Games/Spectrum MediaWorks are partnering to produce a TV show inspired by games, in the sense that the format of the show appears borrowed from the medium. Called X Quest, the show will follow two teams of contestants as they live within a simulated space environment, emerging only occasionally onto simulated planets where they must overcome obstacles. The odd blend of reality show and sci-fi epic will use CG effects in post-production to give goings-on the feel of a true science fiction storyline, and there will also be a video game version developed. X Quest is set to air in summer 2006 on the Fox network. - Possibly due to a shrinking userbase, Sony Online Entertainment has elected to merge some of The Matrix Online's servers in an effort to increase the population density on each server. Saying that "Recently, members of the community have noted that it can be difficult to find other players in The Matrix: Mega City," Sony will be merging the current nine servers down to three. Two of the servers will be standard PvP, while the third will be the special Hostile variant. The merge will go into effect on August 2. - The InDin 2005 -- short for Industry Dinner -- has been announced by UK organizing body the Entertainment Software Charity. The 2005 dinner will be held on December 1st at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London. "InDin 2004 was a great evening with over 350 of the industry's movers and shakers coming together to celebrate all that is good about the games industry," said ESC CEO Mark Strachan. "I would urge everyone to make a note of this year's date in their diary and to book early as I am sure the event will be oversubscribed once again." - Also updated today: product news including information on Ghost 3D's ScanLab 3DS Max plug-in debut, a new Letter to the Editor on plot vs. character in games, and the latest Gamasutra job postings from companies including Backbone Entertainment, Brooklyn Games, Climax Group, Forterra Systems, Microsoft/Digital Anvil, and Splash Damage.