• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Pictures

Vincent Padois, head tutor at the Pierre and Marie Curie University who teaches robotics and is babysitting the Paris ICub, makes a demonstration with ICub robot, a ?hybrid embodied cognitive system for a humanoid robot" about 1 metre (3.2 feet) high, at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris September 4, 2009. Six versions of ICub exist in laboratories across Europe, where scientists are painstakingly tweaking its electronic brain to make it capable of learning, just like a human child and hoping it will learn how to adapt its behaviour to changing circumstances, offering new insights into the development of human consciousness. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

Pictures of the year: Technology

A look at the year's best science and technology photos.   Slideshow 

    "Family Guy" ties into Xbox Live

    David Ward
    Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:49am EDT
    An undated publicity still for the animated series ''Family Guy''. 20th Century Fox has struck a deal with Microsoft Corp. to make the first two seasons of the animated series ''Family Guy'' available for downloads on the Xbox Live service beginning Monday. REUTERS/20th Century Fox/Seth McFarlaneHandout

    LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - 20th Century Fox has struck a deal with Microsoft Corp. to make the first two seasons of the animated series "Family Guy" available for downloads on the Xbox Live service beginning Monday.

    Entertainment  |  Technology  |  Television

    "Family Guy" represents the first Fox product to make it onto Xbox, which lacks an overall deal with the News Corp.-owned studio. In the battle of the electronic sell-through outlets, score one for Xbox over main rival iTunes, which hasn't yet landed rights to "Family."

    "This is our first one," said Jamie McCabe, executive vp at 20th Century Fox. "We hope to have other content on there, but right now with the launch of 'Halo 3' and the launch of the new season of 'Family Guy' coming out, the timing really worked well for this one."

    Noting the popularity of "Family" among males 18-34 -- which also happens to be the sweet spot for the gaming industry -- he added, "It's about as perfect a demographic fit as we can get."

    Xbox 360 owners will be able to purchase each of the episodes from the first two seasons as well as the straight-to-DVD film "Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" for 160 Microsoft points, or about $2, which is comparable with the pricing of TV episodes on iTunes and other VOD platforms.

    In addition to being its initial foray into Xbox, this also is first time the Seth MacFarlane-created series about the irreverent Griffin clan has been available for downloads on any platform, McCabe said.

    Along with the debut of new episodes of the show, Fox also is set to release the "Family Guy Season Five" DVD on September 18, but McCabe said there is little concern that the Xbox downloads will impact those sales.

    "It's a different market and a different consumer," he said. "'Family' has been a phenomenon on DVD, and that audience will continue to buy it."

    Since its formal launch as a provider of movies and TV content in November, Microsoft has aggressively built out the Xbox content offerings as it looks to position the Xbox 360 console as the home-entertainment hub for the living room. Among the content providers for the Live service are Warner Bros., Paramount, the Walt Disney Co., New Line, Lionsgate, Miramax, MTV, Turner Broadcasting and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

    "It's a great interface, and they're definitely doing all they can to support this content," McCabe said.

    Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
    Entertainment
    Technology
    Television


    More from Reuters

    Photo

    Democrats gain 60th vote on health bill

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats reached a compromise on Saturday with the last holdout senator that secured the 60 votes they need to pass a broad healthcare overhaul sought by President Barack Obama.

    » More Top News
    A woman shops at a Sam's Club store, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, in Bentonville, Arkansas June 4, 2009. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

    The food-stamp economy

    On the last day of every month, shoppers at Walmart load their carts with food and household items and wait for the midnight hour. Is this the new normal in America?  Full Article 

    U.S.
    Two men shake hands in a file photo. REUTERS/File

    Let's make a deal

    The battered M&A sector will make a tepid recovery in the coming year and three hot sectors will lead the way, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis.  Full Article 

    Global Deals Review