News of the Day 10/28/2010

Bit of a slow news day today, but some stories are big!

Media:
Disney to do an adaption of Terry Pratchett's 'Mort'? It may seem an odd mix, though it is probably one of the more Disneyseque properties and would probably adapt well. The article notes Disney has some other ambitious stuff going on that may not see Disneylike – and I'd note that Disney seems to be trying to broaden themselves media-wise. Working with Pratchett properties (which have a huge appeal and heavy geek cred) could be very good for them both financially and reputation-wise. That of course could meet jobs – and imitators as people scramble for similar properties.

Internet:
Aol gets a new GM. Changes keep happening at AOL. Not sure what this means – since it's already apparent AOL is already charging ahead.

Social Media:
Mashable is hiring editors and reporters. Go for it.

Video:
Redbox to eventually get into streaming. The article author thinks they could go faster. I'm not so sure I can see how they can compete with Netflix which has a huge base – it seems they'd be relying on being part of the right demographic. Me, I'd say a partership may work out better. Either way, a Netflix/Redbox showdown seems to be coming . . .

Video Games:
Halo Reach sells $350 million in 16 days. Nuff said really.

ZeniMax keeps buying. This time they got Tango Gameworks in Japan.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What strategy is best for Redbox?

– Steven Savage

Media Size and The Changing Media Environment

(Last week I posted to a link on an article about rejected SF and Fantasy novels, and one of our regulars noted that Dune had been rejected for length at one point – and then noted how some series and books seem to be overlong.  That got me thinking and this column is the result).

What is the ideal length of a book?  A series?  A TV episode?  A movie?  A movie series?

You have an idea in mind.  Publishers, TV executives, authors, and everyone has an idea in mind.  I daresay you could, with little prompting start quite a conversation – or argument – about the ideal length/duration of any form of media.  We all have ideas about such things, some held quite passionately.

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Chotskies, Virtual Goods, and Money

Let's be honest, my progeeks, profanes, and protaku, sometimes we buy cheap chotskies in bulk.  We love our meaningless plastic, buttons, toys, etc.  it's part of the geek experience.

Yes, they're wastes of money, but we love them.  I've wondered if for us, however, they may be on the way out – because of virtual goods.

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