John Woo will direct and produce the film-half of Ninja Gold, a multiformat project co-created with celebrated game creator Warren Spector. According to Woo's production partner Terrence Chang, the concept is based on ongoing factual accounts of the Yakuza and Russian mob stealing gold from South Africa. "The idea actually started with John Woo," Spector told Reuters, "He wanted to do something involving traditional ninjas in a modern-day setting, and the idea just resonated with me."

The two components, the game and film, will be developed somewhat independently, while retaining similar elements that will provide a narrative link. In a departure from the norm, neither will be entirely based on the other -- think: convergence, like, totally. Though Spector has been credited as an executive producer of the film, he implied that Woo will be commanding the movie with little help from the game developers. Chang added that the film will be more reality-based (so no signature-Woo bullet ballets?), borrowing lightly from the fantastic elements of the game. Chang hopes that a script can be completed soon, so that production can begin next year. No timetable has been given for the game's development.

As for Woo's other game-related project, Stranglehold, Chang suggested that a film adaptation was a strong possibility. "We would definitely bring Stranglehold to the big screen," Chang said. "We would like game titles to have all kinds of possibility. Having a movie made from them is certainly a major consideration for deciding on a title."

Director Michael Bay is preparing to transform Digital Domain, his Hollywood special-effects house, into a full-scale, game-churning production studio, reports Los Angeles Times. Bay (Bad Boys, Armageddon) will channel the convergence between film and games through his very own first-person shooter, perhaps taking a cue from fellow cross-over director Steven Spielberg. Bay's project will be followed by as many as four additional games over the next two years, as Digital Domain's new owner, Florida investment group Wyndcrest Holdings, begins to pump nearly $100 million into the studio; in part, to purchase the equipment and bring on the talent necessary to compete in the games industry -- including chairs, hundreds of ergonomic chairs. Look for Digital Domain to also acquire several game firms later this year.

As foreshadowed by the studio's "Mad World" Gears of War TV spot, Digital Domain won't be using game engines for just games. Also on the agenda will be a series of teen-targeted animated features, which will utilize machinima er, a "new" cost-effective animation method. Does Hollywood actually have anything to offer the games industry? Or are Bay & co. just hopping over the fence 'cause the grass smells greener? "I make world-class images," says Bay. "Why not put those images into a game?"

Convergence.

Yeah, it's one of our favorite buzzwords too! However, when a well-positioned industry vet like Sony executive Yair Landau starts tossing it around, talking about blurring production lines between video games and movies, we take notice. Delivering the D.I.C.E. Summit's first ever keynote last night, as reported by GameSpot, Landau cited Sony Pictures' upcoming Ghost Rider movie as an example of a project that "combined all the specialties" of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Of course, the official movie-based game is being handled by 2K Games, so we're not quite all the way on convergence, but we get the idea. But the idea isn't new (or else it wouldn't be a very good buzzword, would it?). At last year's GDC, LucasArts and ILM delivered a case study on the convergence of games and film, detailing how they planned to leverage the unique skills of both divisions, with the next Indiana Jones being the first product of that collaboration. Maybe Sony will try something with that spy MMO Landau finished with ... but Activision's got Bond all tied up.

We had a chance to check out Microsoft's IPTV offering for Xbox 360, announced earlier this week during Bill Gates' CES keynote, and get answers to some of the questions that have been nagging at us since first hearing about the service. Though Microsoft hasn't announced any providers for the service yet, both AT&T and Verizon -- as well as fourteen other telcos around the world -- use Microsoft's IPTV middleware platform to provide television over fiber, so they seem like likely candidates when the service debuts holiday season '07.Of course, if you're considering the DVR functionality, the Xbox 360's anemic 20GB hard drive won't get you very far. A Microsoft rep said the file sizes are dependent not only on the resolution of the feed, but the compression used by the provider; however, one could probably assume that the Xbox Live Video Marketplace's videos would be roughly analogous in size. Regardless, we'd expect an update to the drive before IPTV launches. Because IPTV uses software, not a hardware tuner, to decode the signal, the number of streams that can be simultaneously recorded is limited solely by internet and hard drive bandwidth. In addition, IPTV is capable of offering more HD channels than other platforms, like cable or satellite. Because the service shares the same connection as your phone and internet connection, it can provide telco caller-ID and features like teleconferencing have "been discussed." Perhaps the biggest question we have is whether or not any of this functionality would (or could) be made available to gamers who don't (or can't) get IPTV service in their area. Microsoft isn't saying anything but, considering the small amount of consumers with fiber service to the home, we certainly hope so.

I'm here at the Serious Games Summit in Arlington, VA where the keyword of the keynote speech by MIT's Henry Jenkins was convergence. Not necessarily technological convergence -- that mythical, magical black box that will control your media and your life -- but a cultural convergence that allows a community to form a collective intelligence around a game, movie or TV show. The real appeal of media experiences today, Jenkins argued, is not necessarily the product itself, but the community that grows around it, the participatory culture that doesn't come in the box.

Jenkins urged the serious games movement to keep this in mind when designing the educational and socially relevant games the conference is focused on. He challenged the diverse crowd of experts from the government, education, military, health and social change fields to create educational games that were less like a spelling bee (high on memorization, low on discussion and engagement) and more like Scrabble (high on experimentation, low on penalties for risk). Jenkins also echoed Will Wright's call for games that are interdisciplinary, that take on multiple agendas instead of just narrowly focusing on one subject.

With the final part of his speech, Jenkins focused on specific projects trying to achieve these goals -- games like Revolution, a Neverwinter Nights mod that encourages students to role-play as a colonial patriot, and Labyrinth, an upcoming game that teaches math and logic skills on top of a search for a lost pet. Jenkins also acknowledged the challenges of getting these products out to market (some teachers refused to buy Revolution because of occult symbols in Neverwinter Nights, for instance), but seemed hopeful that companies could break through these barriers by joining together.

Being able to seamlessly connect with your friends while playing games is becoming increasingly important, both to gamers and to games companies. Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony all emphasised the importance of online as well as offline play, but Microsoft's announcement of Live Anywhere must surely have struck a nerve with a few niche companies.

Niche up till now, that is. Companies like Viacom and Verizon who are heavily investing in the gaming IM space -- bringing social networking and gaming closer together -- are now in direct competition with a company that can reach multiple platforms easily. By connecting Xbox Live, Windows Vista, MSN Messenger and mobile phones together, Microsoft will make it hard for others to encroach on their territory.