SeaChange Puts the Game in VoD
Offering a low-end alternative to console-based gaming,
video-on-demand systems vendor SeaChange International Inc.
announced a deal for Snap TV that will let consumer use
their remotes to play basic games from VoD servers.
The deal is intended in part to help service providers
squeeze more use out of their VoD systems, which typically
feature network TV shows, free programming and pay-per-view
movies to help cover the network costs of deploying the
systems.
SeaChange said it aims to help cabelcos broaden their array
of on-demand services without additional capital expenditures
and without requiring subscribers to buy games, consoles
and other staple gaming systems components.
SeaChange and Snap TV are not taking on the higher end
gaming systems that have become icons in households to the
extent that Microsoft Corp. plans to access IPTV software
to Xbox 360.
Interactive gaming has been known to devour the Internet
bandwidth of triple-play services provider such as Optical
Entertainment Inc., which found its customers would pay
$100 a month for an additional 100mbps of symmetrical bandwidth.
Another FTTH pioneer, Verizon Communications Inc., has
been working with the Gaming Service Network to deliver
gaming offerings and stated at the Consumer Electronics
Show in January that it plans to add gaming to its FiOS
triple-play arsenal this year.
A few steps down, lower-end gaming using remotes that interact
with existing set-top boxes and VoD services don’t
require the huge amounts of Internet bandwidth gamers have
been consuming in interactive gaming.
“This service is more geared to casual gamers and
those interested in board-type games and DVD games, not
towards hard-core gamers,” explained a spokesman for
SeaChange. These users don‘t have to buy the games
or the pricey consoles needed to use them, he added.
Available now, the turnkey “DVD Game Pack”
service merges Snap TV’s interactive content with
SeaChange’s set-top middleware.
SeaChange said its DVD on Demand set-top software application
is the key to the Game Pack’s gaming opportunity.
It enables on-demand television services to store and stream
DVD files (chapters, navigation, commentary, etc.) like
any other on-demand asset. The games combine full-motion
video with interactive game play.
The SeaChange package is also integrated with third-party
middleware and is already ported to STBs including those
from Motorola, Samsung, Pace, Scientific Atlanta and Amino.
SeaChange International Inc. www.seachange.com
About Snap TV
Snap TV, based in Santa Monica, California, is a leading
producer and distributor of DVD
Games. The games are played on a television set with
only a DVD player and remote control. Players test their
knowledge of various topics such as animals, sports, history,
science and popular culture by watching footage and answering
trivia questions. Snap
TV children’s titles include Eco-Rangers:
Animal Adventures, Wallace
and Gromit DVD Game, Clifford
Phonics DVD Game, I
Spy Spooky Mansion and I
Spy Treasure Hunt. Other Snap TV titles include MLB
Grand Slam Trivia,
NCAA Football Challenge, NCAA
Basketball Challenge, Trivideo:
20th Century Trivia and the world’s first assortment
of DVD
travel games called GameSnacks. For more information,
please visit www.snaptvgames.com.
Press Contact:
Jeyran Ghara
Southard Communications
212.777.2220 ext. 16
jghara@southardinc.com
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