We're totally enjoying CBS' coverage of Manhunt 2. After Katie Couric's eye-roll inducing Notebook entry two days ago, the odiously designed CBS.com site bubbles up a clip of Dr. Phil with Early Show host Harry Smith and journalist Scott Steinberg. We're sorry, but just try not to laugh as Smith introduces Dr. Phil to the show and Steinberg starts flailing the Wiimote trying to execute the guy on screen. Of course, you'll have to go to CBS.com to watch it. We're sorry, but the networks haven't discovered the basics of embeddable code.

Dr. Phil is far more careful here then the last time he talked about video game violence's effect on children during the Virginia Tech massacre -- probably because his hypothesis was dead wrong last time and he looked like a total (insult of choice goes here). Dr. Phil says about Manhunt 2, "Now the truth is, if somebody plays this game and then they go and do this in their life, there was something seriously wrong with them before they got the game. But it's modeling." We'd prefer if the mainstream media did a simple PSA and told parents not to let their children play M-rated games instead of all this fear mongering.

[Via GamePolitics]

OK, so it's not a big surprise that Manhunt 2 looks to be falling pretty flat with the gaming community. But remember, there's still all that expectation of controversy that the mainstream media has been gearing up for! This evening, both ABC and CBS news had segments on Manhunt 2. We seem to have missed the CBS one, but we did catch the ABC segment. We'd love to share the package with you, but the networks are quite behind the times and we can't seem to find the segments anywhere on their sites yet (and we're even less sure to find embeddable code). If it finds its way to YouTube, we'll be sure to post it. (Update: Still no code, but here's CBS' segment.)

ABC.com's news section actually does have a quick rundown of video game ratings and terminology on their site for the utterly uninitiated. CBS took a different approach, however, as CBS.com features Katie Couric's Notebook. "What sets this video game apart is that the player can become physically involved in the acts of violence," Couric says. "Rather than just pushing buttons, the player actually wields a knife, an ax, a glass shard -- to stab an opponent."

Ummm, no. Don't know who writes the copy over there at that ratings powerhouse, but that's just plain wrong. Although the PS2 version would be about pushing buttons -- unless CBS has discovered some new feature -- we're currently unaware of the Wiimote's ability to shape-shift into any of those items described allowing a player to "stab an opponent." Couric then says that research shows violent games cause children to accept violence as an every day part of life. Ironically, a kid with average intelligence should be able to figure that out by watching the first segment of Katie's news broadcast every weekday evening.

Ubisoft announced today that their video game adaptation of ABC's island mystery Lost will be coming out in the first quarter 2008 to PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A trailer is expected to be shown today at Comic-Con between 5pm and 6pm PT (8pm to 9pm ET).

While not divulging much about the trailer, Ubisoft gave a hint to the story of the game. You play as one of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. According to the description provided by IGN, "you'll have to try and unravel the mysteries of the island while dealing with unsettled business in your past." Ubisoft said that you will also interact with familiar characters and battle Ol' Smokey.

If we're playing an unknown character from the original crash, we're kind of worried about how the game will progress in relation to the show -- will we be limited to what we can do so as to not upset the current storyline, or will this serve as an alternate timeline separate from the show? One only needs to mention "Nikki and Paulo" to a Lost fan to know that adding survivors post-crash is a recipe for ire.

Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have reportedly worked with Ubisoft to devise the game's storyline. Said the two, "Ubisoft has done a fantastic job and come up with a game that is visually amazing and imaginative both on its own and as an extension of the world of the show." Hopefully we'll have a better idea after the trailer tonight.

[Update - The trailer has been embedded behind the break. Enjoy!]

In their most recent official podcast, ABC's LOST producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse confirmed that the upcoming game adaptation will be arriving on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Typically, adaptations cater to as many consoles as possible so as to guarantee they hit the same market as those who watch the TV show. Is this an indication that the PlayStation 2's time is coming to an end, or is developer Ubisoft Montreal focusing more time and effort on delivering a title whose graphics are on par with our expectations for the newest generation of console?

Said Cuse approximately 25 minutes into the podcast, "[Developer Ubisoft Montreal] came down here the other day and did a demo on some of the stuff," while Lindelof remarked, "very impressive," in response to what they were shown. We don't want to imply that television producers know what makes great games, but as fans of the show, we are comforted that progress is being made on the title. No release date has been mentioned.

A mobile game based on LOST is currently available, which you can demo here.

[Via Lost Spoilers; Update: fixed typo in name.]

ABC's Jimmy Kimmel managed to get his hands on an advance copy of the Lost video game. "One of the guys at the office played it all day today", and as you'll see, he certainly seemed to enjoy it.

The relationship between ABC's mega-hit Lost and video games has long been considered, from its similarities to ARGs, how it would make a great MMO, to more recent rumors of an actual Lost console game.

Now, according to a report from ABC News, Ubisoft's illustrious Montréal studio (responsible for the Prince of Persia series and, more tellingly, Myst IV: Revelations) is working on an adaptation of the series for consoles, handhelds, and PC. Just how the game will work on the various platforms (adventure?, platformer?, rhythm game?) has yet to be revealed, but the series' particular elements lend themselves well to a video game. Unfortunately, the same could be said of countless other adapted properties that have failed to live up to fans' understandably high reactions.

Considering that Lost is frequently mentioned in the same sentence as "episodic" and "content," could Ubisoft be planning an episodic adaptation?

[Thanks, jonathan]

EGM's April 2006 issue sports a short entry under its monthly Rumor Mill section telling readers to expect a Lost video game this fall for unspecified consoles.

The Q also claims that the playable adaptation will "even feature an online multiplayer mode called something like 'Passengers versus The Others.'" Predicting possible genres is sketchy at this point, but one could imagine modes such as Capture the Hatch, Pregnant Woman Rescue, and Team Freak-out popping up like a season or two's stranded passenger hallucinations. (Then again, maybe not...)

If all goes according to plan, fans of the desperate housewives on Wisteria Lane will be able to live out their soap opera dreams on their PCs before the TV show's canceled.

Disney (which owns the ABC television network that distributes Desperate Housewives in the States) has set its Buena Vista Games division to publish a PC-based adaptation of the sudsy Sunday-night staple this fall.

While negotiations are underway to secure additional cast members to represent themselves in-game (they've only gotten the deceased housewife narrator on-board so far), we hope this license works out better than the recent video game adaptations such as 24: The Game, Alias, and Dark Angel (where the DA game actually came out after the show was canceled). The screenshots revealed seem to display more suburban architecture than gameplay, but the game will involve taking on the role of a new neighboring housewife. It has not been disclosed, however, whether you can take prisoners in your basement as of yet.

[Thanks, riffgod, bandersnatch, Nick, & GunForHire; via Yahoo! & the BBC]

See also:

• Mark Green discusses 24: The Game
• Metacritic metascore for 24: The Game (on the PS2): 61 out of 100
  
• Metacritic metascore for Alias (on the PC): 55 out of 100
• Metacritic metascore for Dark Angel (on the PS2): 48 out of 100

Jennifer Buckendorff writes in the Seattle Times, "Unlike traditionally passive television shows, which expect viewers to zone out in a couch-potato haze, Lost, which returns with new episodes Wednesday night, has embedded clues throughout. It's these recurring tidbits — and the patterns they form — that make Lost the first show to resemble a video game."

She makes a strong case, drawing analogies between consumers of both falling into casual and hardcore camps. The community involvement, in forums and podcasts, strongly resembles the ad-hoc communities that developed around popular alternate reality games. Think of The Cloudmakers group that deciphered the A.I. promotion The Beast, or the groups that worked together on Microsoft's i love bees.

As television viewership decreases because popular demographics (that's you guys) spend more of their entertainment time reading blogs (that's us) and playing video games, it's encouraging to see that at least one show has created a formula to attract viewers back to the often dull network television.

Is it only one show though? I've always thought 24 encouraged the same kind of critical attention; with dozens of characters and more backstabbing than a daytime soap, it's one of the few shows on television that can match the excitement of a video game.

[Via Cathode Tan]