The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 194

IS) AY 08 19 03 TO 0 NEWTOYS Dean uses power of Web to propel bid for presidency ReplayTV incorporates I the Internet BY JAMES CUMMINGS I DAVID PAUL MORRISAP With President John Riccitiello at the helm Electronic profits tripled to $317 million in its past fiscal year relentless and serious about he says The art of the game EA evolves into a video game powerhouse ERIC RISBERGAP ROLE PLAYING: Billy Delli-Gatti plays a of the game at Electronic Arts media day in Redwood Calif sion which he calls a concentrated information source that benefits big money While most websites are basic letting supporters volunteer donate get newsletters was the first to post a frequently updated Web journal called a blog that lets visitors provide the campaign with valuable feedback creates a continuous stream of said Steven Schneider co-founder of the research site political webinfo creates an that gives volunteers a feeling of ownership in the campaign use of the Internet has: I Helped the campaign raise $75 million in the April-June period the most among Democrats About 40 percent came from the Internet in the final week as website acquired a telethon flavor I Spurred donations averaging $53 over four days in late July that totaled more than half a million dollars outdoing the $300000 collected by Vice President Dick Cheney at a $2000-a-plate fundraiser I Brought Dean supporters together in coffee shops and bars across the country with the help of Meetupcom What began in February as unsanctioned gatherings has morphed into monthly meetings with Dean and his representatives attending I Encouraged the campaign to dabble with wireless and Internet video alerting supporters on cellphones of upcoming television appearances and creating a TV-like site with ads and footage from major events That is not to say site is always ahead The campaign site for President Bush though lacking in many basic features is the lone site with a searchable database of campaign donors BUMPY TRAIL And there have been bumps on the digital campaign trail no surprise given the freedom of action on the Internet One is the Dean Defense Forces site which Trippi says once in a while overdo Not connected to the campaign the members flood the e-mail boxes of reporters and opinion makers perceived to have slighted Dean Rivals are adopting Internet tactics Sen John Kerry for one has since joined Dean in paying Meetup $2500 a month to customize messages and coordinate e-mail lists Kerry and Sen Bob Graham of Florida have also started campaign blogs Trippi professes not to worry Only the right candidate can effectively cultivate the grass-roots online he maintains Political analysts tend to agree terrible candidate with a great website is a terrible Noble says BYANICKJESDANUN Associated Press Click by click high school English teacher Sherry Stanley is working to help Democrat Howard Dean meet the tough requirements to get on Virginia's presidential ballot Through an e-mail list she found dozens of Dean supporters in her state who helped get hundreds more to sign petitions For the petition drive she publicized launch parties on the website where such events are deftly listed by ZIP Code proximity Stanley is on her way to getting the 10000 signatures needed to qualify in a state the Dean camp says would otherwise have been a close call for lack of money and staff Like no other political candidate the former Vermont governor has used the grass-roots power of the Internet to surge to the top tier of the Democratic presidential pack REACHING THE VOTERS The Dean Internet fluency has enabled it to reach out to voters who feel disenfranchised to persuade them to donate and perhaps most important to encourage and co-opt independently organized projects by supporters like Stanley a scale of 1 to 10 1 think even the most partisan Republican has to give Dean an said Larry Purpuro who coordinated the eGOP Project in 2000 truly made it a platform for people to do a whole lot of things not just a couple of Other candidates have used the Internet before Jesse Ventura to organize his successful 1998 run for Minnesota governor Sen John McCain to raise money following his New Hampshire primary win in 2000 But not like this is doing both of those times 10 plus he is adding a number of says Phil Noble a Democratic political consultant who runs Poli ticsOnline in Charleston SC Pretty good for someone who know much about technology before this campaign CAMPAIGN ADVICE Joe Trippi did however campaign manager Trippi moved to Silicon Valley as a teen studied aeronautical engineering and had advised such high-tech firms as Progeny Linux Systems After Dean raised the idea of running a decentralized campaign partly because he have much money to hire staff Trippi suggested the Internet At the same time Dean supporters were finding each other independently using a website called Meetupcom designed for people with common interests By treating the Internet as integral and not an afterthought Trippi says the campaign returns to the people the power taken away by televi DAYTON Ohio ReplayTV the granddaddy of digital video recorders started selling a new line of VRs on Friday and it includes a unit capable of storing 320 hours of programming ReplayTV introduced the first widely available digital video recorder in 1999 but ReplayTV catch on as well as TiVo which was introduced later Sonicblue which used to own ReplayTV filed for bank- ruptcy and the ReplayTV unit was purchased by Holdings of Japan this spring The new owners have put out the 5500 series of ReplayTV units due in stores and through online retailers on Friday The RTV5504 holds 40 hours of programming and retails for $54999 The RTV5532 at $149999 holds 320 hours which ReplayTV says is the biggest DVR capacity available There are two other models offering 80 or 160 hours The 5500 models like other DVRs are basically hard drives set up to record video programming Instead of using magnetic tape as VCRs do they use memory discs a la computers ReplayTV uses the Internet to communicate with the units to give them regularly updated I programming schedules that make recording easier The online information service is supplied free for three years to subscribers buying new ReplayTV units After that the service costs 99 cents a month ReplayTV units have -built-in modems so they can be "plugged into phone lines or linked to the company through broadband connections To record use a remote control to search through an onscreen menu to find a show title One click and the unit is set to record that show ReplayTV also can be set to record a particular title every time it comes on Set it to record say every episode of Six Feet Under and it records new episodes without record- ing any repeat showings It also can be set to record shows by keyword And for those times when away from home the units can be programmed via the Internet ReplayTV units provide all the other advantages of digital recording They let you pause live TV watch the beginning of a recorded show while taping the end create your own instant replays and more QuickSkip lets you jump ahead 30 seconds instantaneously to get past commer-r rials and scan at 20 times the normal speed Plus the units offer component video outputs and digital i audio outputs to take full advantage of high-quality home-theater setups For those owning more than one ReplayTV unit designed to work with a home-e network system Connect two units to your network and they can share recording and play-back duties For more information visit wwwreplaytvcom BY MAY WONG Associated Press REDWOOD CITY Calif Video games are no longer simply about getting the highest score or disgracing an opponent also about immersing yourself in make-believe worlds you help fashion No one understands that better than Electronic Arts the video game publisher that has evolved over two decades into an entertainment powerhouse as muscled as some of its game characters EA sees itself not as a toy-maker but as a provider of mainstream amusement that adapts to cultural shifts along with its customers not like GI Joe more like TV" said company spokesman Jeff Brown The company publishes the all-time best-selling computer game The Sims which is essentially a digital dollhouse Addicted players from investment bankers to housewives have bought 27 million copies in three years an example of what EA does best luring gamers from outside the testosterone-charged under-25 crowd EA also was the first video game developer to successfully exploit a franchise model games built upon story sequels sports-like seasons and expansion packs that have fans buying follow-up versions year after year The rivals develop plenty of hits And EA take credit for many breakthroughs in visuals and evermore addictive features But no one can argue with its ability to create games that sell squeeze every dollar out of them and get them on shelves In the 14th iteration of Madden NFL which hit stores last week gamers can be coach owner and quarterback controlling not only the plays on the field but the price of hot dogs RISING PROFIT Last year 4000 employees produced 22 games that each sold more than a million copies while five sold more than 4 million apiece profits tripled to $317 million in the fiscal year that ended in March and company executives expect revenues to top the growth of about 15 percent this year relentless and serious about said company President John Riccitiello Yet for all its predatory business prowess EA shows Orders for the new Power Mac G5s have topped 100000 since the computers were introduced June 23 Apple said in a statement distributed by PR Newswire International Business Machines Corp developed a chip that processes data in 64-bit chunks to run the little blood lust in its video games Most of games are Boy Scout clean compared to all the gory mature-rated games on the market some of which have players slash necks with glass shards or pull out body organs Even with James Bond games the Bond girls are more clothed than some players would like not whores and hookers Their blouses pop Riccitiello said not going to jump on the bandwagon just because everyone else management opposes gratuitous violence and sex but it avoided M-rated games entirely and does plan to produce more says Ricci-tieUo He cites Alice and Clive Undying and another M-rated game Medal of Honor ANALYST CONCERN Some analysts say EA may have to rethink its Disney-like approach if the popularity of M-rated games continues to rise The category represented 18 percent of all console games sold in 2002 up from 7 percent in 2000 said Michael Pachter analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities Founded in 1982 by Trip Hawkins and Bing Gordon the company has turned into a $25 billion empire With recurring revenue from its fortress of franchises Pachter thinks the company will rule the $10 billion gaming industry for another 10 years EA has what analysts call the strongest balance sheet reporting more than $16 billion in cash and short-term investments and no debt in the last quarter along with earnings well ahead of Wall Street estimates The company also raised its earnings outlook for the year As other Silicon Valley computers which cost $1999 to $2999 Apple says the G5 is the fastest PC Power Mac sales had slumped as the slower pace of worldwide economic growth forced graphic designers and advertising agencies to cut spending Apple based in companies shrivel EA just constructed a building at its headquarters and plans to double the size of its Los Angries studio from 300 developers to 600 in two years MICROSOFT BATTLE dominance has even allowed it to snub Microsoft When EA launches its online versions of Tiger Woods golf and other games this fall they will be playable only on PlayStation2 not Xbox because Microsoft refused to give EA royalties or a cut of the subscription fees for its Xbox Live game network EA said Even America Online recently agreed to reverse the money flow paying EA instead of collecting fees for carrying Club Pogo games on its Internet service EA paces an industry that has evolved from a fragmented market to one churning out Hollywood-style releases with music soundtracks and celebrity voices When Warner Bros sought bids for a line of Harry Potter video games it chose EA for its creative vision and distribution power said Warner Bros spokeswoman Karime Joret The video game version of Harry Potter: The Stone launched in 57 countries on the same day as the movie two years ago was a marketing triumph that involved 18 months of collaboration between the producers artists and engineers of the movie and the game Last year the sequel The Chamber of Secrets was released in 75 countries and 31 languages and on seven different game platforms Both have so far generated $500 million in revenues studios can create good games but no one else could put it on the shelf like crowed Brown Cupertino Calif said sales were hurt by the perception that the processors fast enough Shares of Apple rose 63 cents or 32 percent to $2034 at 4 pm New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market They have risen 42 percent this year CLICKING AWAY ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL SLEEK STORER: The RTV5532 holds 320 hours of programming and retails for S119999 Former Vermont Gov Howard website has played a vital role in his presidential campaign A recent analysis of candidate sites showed that Web presence is more diverse than others mmm website has feature ti website does not have feature Fund- Weblog AurSo Campaign Comparison to raising Store video adg opponents Rep Dennis 1 Kuclnlch Jici izi cm i 1 Al Sharpton i i Rep Dick Gephardt i i i Sen John Edwards czrj I Sen Joe Lieberman cu i Sen John Kerry i Sen Carol Moseley Braun rn i Sen Bob Graham ci i President Bush i SOURCE: PolltlcalwebJnfo MBZ081903 THE HERALD With 100000 on order Apple ships Power Mac G5s BY RON DAY Bloomberg News Apple Computer began shipping new versions of its Power Mac personal computer a product line that had been the biggest drag on the sales.