As rumors continue to proliferate in game industry that Nintendo of America (NOA) will soon drop price of GameCube by $50 to $99, more bad news arrived for company’s console. This time news came via 3rd-party U.K. publisher Eidos, which indicated it no longer would support Nintendo’s console. Comment wasn’t provided by Eidos at our deadline, but published reports quoted CEO Michael McGarvey as saying decision was made because GameCube was “a declining business.”

FCC voted unanimously Wed. to adopt rules governing one-way digital, cable-ready TV sets, pushing digital TV transition one step further.

The FCC voted unanimously Wed. to adopt rules governing one-way digital, cable-ready TV sets, pushing the digital TV transition one step further. The order largely accepts the technical, labeling and encoding rules in an agreement reached by the cable and consumer electronics (CE) in Dec. However, the FCC made some changes, one of which was to order that the sets include over-the-air digital tuners -- something broadcasters wanted. The order also would allow computer manufacturers and others to hook their wares up to cable systems if the devices complied with the same content protections prescribed by the FCC. FCC Media Bureau Chief Kenneth Ferree said that was “not just a rubber stamp” of the industries’ original agreement.

Eidos said it returned to profitability in fiscal year ended June 30 despite delays in its latest Tomb Raider videogame, The Angel of Darkness. Chmn. John van Kuffeler, said preliminary results for year indicated improvement was “driven by strong sales” of 4 key game releases “and by our ongoing management of the cost base.” Company said 4 “Pillar Titles” in year were latest Tomb Raider offering, along with Championship Manager 4, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, TimeSplitters2.

Although CLECs will benefit from much of the FCC’s recently released Triennial UNE Review order, potential problems remain, CLEC experts said Thurs. in an audioconference sponsored by CCMI consultants. Questions from an audience of CLEC providers indicated there still was confusion about the terms of the order, ranging from line splitting to the use of EELs. CLEC consultant Andrew Regitsky warned that a new TELRIC rulemaking scheduled for release at the FCC’s Sept. 10 agenda meeting could be a negative for CLECs.

Shares in N.Y. game publisher Take-Two Interactive were up Wed. after company reported strong results for its 3rd quarter and its executives told analysts in conference call they were upbeat about future. At same time, Take-Two revealed that it was acquiring Westlake Village, Cal., competitor TDK Mediactive (TDKM) for $22.7 million in move that Take-Two CEO Jeff Lapin said would “complement our portfolio of proprietary brands and will provide an excellent platform for Take-Two to further expand and diversify its product offerings.” TDKM boasts large line of mass market and children’s games such as Shrek franchise based on hit animated movie -- categories that Take-Two hasn’t been strongest on. In late afternoon trading, Take-Two shares were up $6.12 (20.57%) at $35.87.

Sen. Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized the lack of emergency plans by most cellphone companies during the recent blackout and urged FCC Chmn. Powell in a letter to encourage broader adoption of wireless priority access. Schumer said only one wireless carrier, T-Mobile, had a wireless plan in place and said T-Mobile was one of the smaller carriers in N.Y. “I am especially concerned by reports I have received that police, firefighters and other first-responder personnel were not able to place telephone calls,” Schumer wrote. He laid out a 3-part plan to improve priority service: (1) Imposing a mandatory requirement that wireless providers participate in the wireless priority access system. (2) Increasing the volume capacity for wireless phone systems. Schumer said cellphone services should be able to handle more than 25% of their customers at one time, especially since dramatic rises in cellphone usage were projected for the future. (3) Increasing the power supply backup for cellphone towers. Transmitters lost battery power as the blackout wore on and Schumer said service providers should keep more battery backups and have more portable generators. “Over the years, traditional telephone landlines and most other utilities have developed so-called ‘redundancies’ -- if one power system fails, there is a backup to keep people safe,” Schumer said. “The wireless industry just isn’t there yet, and it needs to catch up quick.” In a letter to the N.Y. Times, CTIA Pres. Thomas Wheeler said there was a “monumental spike in traffic” during the blackout, but preliminary reports showed wireless systems performed well despite the circumstances. “This was an outage of monumental proportions and the degree to which all communications providers worked to maintain service while the power was restored is to be commended, not regulated,” Wheeler said.

Both sides claimed victory Mon. in a Cal. Supreme Court decision holding that a preliminary injunction issued against a Web site operator for posting DVD decryption information didn’t violate federal or state free speech laws.

The Cal. PUC’s preliminary work to prepare for addressing Triennial Review issues the FCC is expected to refer to the states has pointed up a potential area of conflict between the FCC order and Cal. state law. The potential trouble concerns line sharing. Cal. law supports line sharing and gives the PUC authority over it and doesn’t allow the agency to invalidate a state statute because it’s inconsistent with federal law. The Triennial Review order is expected to sharply limit states’ authority over line sharing. The PUC in Jan. set a zero monthly interim rate for the unbundled high-frequency portion of local loops for SBC and Verizon, citing state Sec. 709.7 as mandating a state policy to promote line sharing as a competitive vehicle. The PUC has a proceeding pending on setting permanent rates and policies for line sharing. It asked all parties to respond within 30 days of the Triennial Review order’s release on how the FCC order would affect the state line-sharing proceeding. The agency wants parties to address whether state policies ensuring competitive access to shared lines were inconsistent with or would thwart requirements of the Telecom Act.

Ad spending rose 2.8% in the first half of 2003 over the same time period last year, increasing in 6 of the 11 reported media by 2%-19%, preliminary figures by Nielsen Monitor-Plus showed. Research found that Hispanic TV experienced the greatest ad growth with 19%, while magazines grew almost 14% and local newspaper ad spending almost 10%. Syndicated TV, network TV, cable TV and national newspapers all dropped 4%, with network radio down only 1.4%, the study said -- www.nielsenmedia.com/newsreleases/2003/.