As I was listening to the summer edition of the official Lost podcast and trying to not count the months until the show's final season, I caught this video-game-related snippet. It's at 17:24 of the August 6 installment, during a conversation with two of the show's executive producers.

The men are discussing the recreational distractions that occupy the Lost writing office and turn to Alec Baldwin's favorite pastime:

Adam Horowitz, Lost Executive Producer: All I know is that there was a lot of Galaga in season three.

Eddy Kitsis, Lost Executive Producer: In fact, the name of the sub originally was going to be — in fact, did we name it that? I can't remember. We wanted to name it the Galaga because we were playing so much Galaga.

Horowitz: [Lost co-creator] Damon [Lindelof] and I got into a vicious, friendly competition on Galaga.

Kitsis: Yeah, Adam and Damon would literally play for 20 hours a day.

Horowitz: The problem became that we both got so good at the game. And I will concede that Damon ultimately did come off with the high score — although there is an asterisk attached to that, which is that he passed a million and then it goes back to zero, so the high score of mine of 970,000 is the one that's up on the board but he actually did get the high score...

Host: Was this a bit like your own King of Kong-type competition?

Horowitz: Kind of...

Kitsis: But there's no kill screen.

Horowitz: There was no kill screen, but by the end of it, it got to the point where we had both gotten so good that when one of us would start the game our first man would take a half an hour and the other one would have to go off and do whatever. It just became too much of a time suck.

As with everything related to Lost, there's a plot twist. In this case, the twist is that the sub already was called Galaga and that some people knew this. Somehow, despite discussing this show obsessively with my wife and fellow devotee/reporter Patrick Klepek, I never picked up on it before.

08-06-2009 Lost Podcast

That's because Netflix and Disney recently signed a deal to stream the first five seasons of Lost, seasons four and five of Desperate Housewives, season five of Grey's Anatomy and seasons one and two of The Legend of the Seeker through Netflix Instant Watch service.

The agreement extends Netflix's relationship with Disney-ABC, which inked their first digital licensing deal last September.

"We're excited about this new agreement since it builds on a strong foundation with Disney-ABC Television Group," said Robert Kyncl, vice president of content acquisition for Netflix, in a prepared statement. "In all, we're providing Netflix members with some of the most popular and avidly followed shows on TV while working with an important business partner to help grow several of its key franchises."

Smallrock Software's Doomsday Terminal application for the iPhone and iPod Touch recreates the thrill of plugging a sequence of numbers into a command line every 108 minutes, just as Lost character Desmond Hume was forced to do. It's barely a game; but if it is, it's a game of survival.

How long can one last, being forced to return to their virtual terminal every hour and 48 minutes? And with no clear reward?

As it stands right now, the maximum amount of time someone will tolerate it is just over a week.

Like the terminal employed in the television show, users can send messages to each other via Doomsday Terminal, but they'll be distributed randomly—potentially adding to the madness.

Unfortunately, the app is strictly unofficial. Even the numbers are different from those used on the show—4 8 15 16 23 42. Perhaps a future update will allow users to use their own custom numbers, for added authenticity.

Doomsday Terminal [iTunes via Touch Arcade]

Counts for...something. What it is, exactly, we're not sure. But hey, since there's a very good chance the writers and creators of Lost play a ton of video games, and the viewers of Lost play a ton of video games, stuff like this probably just becomes second-nature.

TV’s ‘Lost’ Pays Homage To First-Person-Shooters [MTV]

In classic Festivus style, AP decided now would be a good time to wrap up the year with their Airing of Grievances. At the top of the list is the growing pile of mini-game centric, Wii shovelware inundating all of those new gamers Nintendo has recruited.

"Summer Sports: Paradise Island" (Destineer, for the Wii): How many minigame collections do Wii owners need? "Six Flags Fun Park"? "Shrek's Carnival Games"? "Imagine Party Babyz"? There are more to come, but I hope none is as slipshod as "Summer Sports," yet another incompetently programmed rush job from the hacks at Destineer.

Actually three of the five grievances are targeted at titles that run on Nintendo consoles. The other two are nitpicky blasts at Hail to the Chimp (substandard brawler) and Lost (Internet fan fiction).

The list also includes games that were disappointments, franchises that need to die and a series of one-off gripes.

We're brewing up a list of our own, but we want to wait for the year to be over to make sure nothing really egregious pops its irritating head up in the final days of 2008. Do you have any gaming grievances to air?

Game news: Airing grievances against 2008's worst

Taking You Places You Never Imagined Sweepstakes [Xbox.com]
[via Major Nelson]

They did send us some very specific guidelines. Here's what the black smoke does. Here's some information on the Black Rock... They were very specific about how far we could go and what we could say about it. That was one where they were very, very specific: 'It does this. It does this.' Or they wouldn't say it does 'this' or 'this.'

The Lost video game will be shipping for the Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3 in the first quarter of next year, Ubisoft announced today at Comic Con.

The game will put you in the shoes of a surviving passenger of Oceanic flight 815 working to unravel the mysteries of the island and confront your own dark past. The game will include locations and characters from the show and include puzzles, battles and "other challenges."

Ubi plans to unveil the first official trailer for the game during the 5 p.m. Lost Season 4 panel at Comic-Con today. Hit the jump for the release.

UBISOFT ANNOUNCES FIRST DETAILS FOR THE LOST VIDEO GAME

Ubisoft to unveil the first official video game trailer at the San Diego Comic-Con International Thursday, July 26th at the Lost Season 4 panel from 5:00pm - 6:00pm.

SAN FRANCISCO - JULY 26, 2007 - Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, in collaboration with ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios, announced the Lost video game will be shipping first quarter of 2008 for the Xbox 360(TM) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC CD-ROM. Based on the award-winning television series, the Lost video game will allow players to experience an untold adventure of "Lost" in an immersive, interactive world. The Lost video game is being developed by Ubisoft's Montreal studio.

"Ubisoft is thrilled to be collaborating with ABC to develop this phenomenal television series into an interactive experience," said Helene Juguet, senior director of marketing for Ubisoft. "Ubisoft has worked closely with ABC Studios and the show's producers to create a compelling storyline that has the same mystery, adventure and intensity fans of the show have come to expect from the 'Lost' brand."

"We're very excited to be working with Ubisoft to develop a game that captures the same surprise and intrigue as 'Lost,'" said Bruce Gersh, senior vice president, business development, ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios. "The series has such a loyal audience, and we're happy to bring fans an additional way to interact and engage with their favorite characters."

"The sense of adventure and suspense that we strive for in the show is also captured in the Lost video game," said Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, executive producers of the 'Lost' television series. "Ubisoft has done a fantastic job and come up with a game that is visually amazing and imaginative both on its own and as an extension of the world of the show."

Ubisoft will unveil the first official video game trailer at the San Diego Comic-Con International Thursday, July 26th at Lost's Season 4 panel from 5:00pm - 6:00pm.

About the Game
As a passenger of Oceanic flight 815, you survived the crash and find yourself on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. As you begin to unravel mysteries of the island, you begin to discover secrets of your own. You will have to understand your past mistakes in order to survive and find your way home...
• Play as a survivor of Oceanic Flight 815: Confront your dark past, seek your redemption, and ultimately find a way home.
• Authentic 'Lost' experience: Explore familiar locations, unravel mysteries, and interact with the main characters from the show.
• Survive the challenges that the island throws at you: Solve puzzles, outsmart enemies, battle the smoke monster, and overcome many other challenges to survive the island and come out alive.

About 'Lost'
After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, its survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island holds many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, polar bears, a strange French woman and another group of island residents known as the Others. The survivors have also found signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock, the remains of an ancient statue, as well as bunkers belonging to The Dharma Initiative — a group of scientific researchers who inhabited the island in the recent past.

The band of friends, family, enemies and strangers must continue to work together against the cruel weather and harsh terrain if they want to stay alive. But as they have discovered during their 90-plus days on the island, danger and mystery loom behind every corner, and those they thought could be trusted may turn against them. Even heroes have secrets.

"Lost" stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet and Terry O'Quinn as Locke.

"Lost" was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers. "Lost," which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii, is from ABC Studios.

About ABC Studios
ABC Studios has emerged as a leader in television development and production. The studio's current slate of programs includes the international franchise hits "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives;" this year's Golden Globe winning drama and comedy "Grey's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty;" the Emmy-nominated comedy "Scrubs" on NBC; and sophomore hits "Ghost Whisperer" and "Criminal Minds" for CBS. For cable television, the studio produces ABC Family's best-performing original series of all time, "Kyle XY," as well as "Dirt" on FX and "Army Wives" on Lifetime. The studio also produces ABC's late-night talker "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and is a distributor for "The Amazing Race" on CBS. ABC Studios is part of Disney-ABC Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company.

About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has offices in 21 countries and sales in more than 50 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. Ubisoft generated sales of 680 million Euros for the 2006-07 fiscal year. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.

© 2007 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Under license by © Touchstone Television. All Rights Reserved. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION", and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Two of the executive producers of the TV show and Ubisoft's Montreal studio are finally starting work on a Lost game for Xbox, PS3, and PC. It's a good thing they didn't waste any time between now and the time they first got the license for the game back in May 2006, because then they wouldn't be hot of the heels of the show's success. How thinly veiled is my sarcasm? It's pretty thin considering by the time the game is actually released, half of the island will be missing, dead, or replaced. Or canceled. Kim Phu

PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 title due out this year [Games Industry Biz]

IGN
We might as well get this comparison out of the way now: Glu's Stranded, while obviously inspired by the television show Lost, is actually the better game. Each game has a linear adventure you move through, but Stranded just has so much extra stuff going on...[and Lost] the events are already etched in stone, you are more of a puppeteer than a gamer...you will get more game for your download dollar from Glu's desert island epic.

Gamespot
All in all, Lost is a fun, polished mobile game with great gameplay, visuals and sound. If you're a Lost fan, it's definitely worth the download. Heck, even if you're not, you won't get bored with the game...The only problem is, the game doesn't last for long - pretty much all the chapters can be passed in less than three minutes, hence the game's length varies from thirty to forty minutes.


Pocket Gamer
The action takes the form of a top-down game... The characters are small but well-drawn...[overall the title] is a polished and atmospheric action game that does a good job of condensing Lost for the small screen without a) turning it into a platform game, b) revealing any plot spoilers, or c) including the hobbit bloke's comical Britpop band flashbacks.


Rocky Mountain News
It feels, at times, that the game is trying to both introduce those unfamiliar with Lost to the show and trying to let fans relive the key moments of the show, but that it doesn't really succeed at either... It recreates the successful show's plot with such broad strokes that it loses most meaning and at times is confusing if you don't already know what happened from seeing the show...it chooses big moments from the show and links them together with some pretty basic gameplay.

IGN
We might as well get this comparison out of the way now: Glu's Stranded, while obviously inspired by the television show Lost, is actually the better game. Each game has a linear adventure you move through, but Stranded just has so much extra stuff going on...[and Lost] the events are already etched in stone, you are more of a puppeteer than a gamer...you will get more game for your download dollar from Glu's desert island epic.

Gamespot
All in all, Lost is a fun, polished mobile game with great gameplay, visuals and sound. If you're a Lost fan, it's definitely worth the download. Heck, even if you're not, you won't get bored with the game...The only problem is, the game doesn't last for long - pretty much all the chapters can be passed in less than three minutes, hence the game's length varies from thirty to forty minutes.

Pocket Gamer
The action takes the form of a top-down game... The characters are small but well-drawn...[overall the title] is a polished and atmospheric action game that does a good job of condensing Lost for the small screen without a) turning it into a platform game, b) revealing any plot spoilers, or c) including the hobbit bloke's comical Britpop band flashbacks.

Rocky Mountain News
It feels, at times, that the game is trying to both introduce those unfamiliar with Lost to the show and trying to let fans relive the key moments of the show, but that it doesn't really succeed at either... It recreates the successful show's plot with such broad strokes that it loses most meaning and at times is confusing if you don't already know what happened from seeing the show...it chooses big moments from the show and links them together with some pretty basic gameplay.

I work at a local target store, at the electronics department. I walked in today and noticed something missing, other than my desire to be working, it was the PSP UMD movies section. Thinking it was moved I searched then finally decided to ask around. To my suprise, my boss told me that Target wasn't going to be selling them anymore. Now I'm not sure if its in every store, but I decided to give the other targets a call in my city, and they also said they had pulled them. So, not sure what that means, but with so many people saying the UMD movies are pretty pointless, and sales being sluggish, I cant help but wonder if PSP movies are soon to go the way of the betamax.

Two things: First, Target's online site still lists nearly 500 UMD movies for sale, none of them price-cut, so maybe this is just a regional effort. Second, we knew this was coming. Variety did a story awhile back about UMD losing support at some major retailers and in Hollywood, so it was inevitable that companies like Target were going to eventually pull the format.

I'm still waiting to hear about the device that the story mentioned which would allow you to play UMD movies on your television. Oh, that and a way for me to download &(!@$ Lost to my PSP and watch it without having to do some sort of format conversion dance. Brian Crecente

The Lost game will be developed by Ubi's Montreal studio and should hit next year for unnamed consoles and portables and the PC.

The press release includes a little quote from the executive producer of the show confirming what we all expected, the Lost writers are gamers:

"Many of us on 'Lost' have been hardcore gamers for years and the chance to work with Ubisoft, a company behind some of our favorite titles, has excited us to no end," said 'Lost' executive producer Bryan Burk. "With the ability to tell new interactive stories within the 'Lost' universe, we're giddy to be developing a game that, once completed, will be as engaging and fun to play as it is to create."

My money is on the game screwing up the franchise, but maybe Ubi will get it right. —Brian Crecente

Cathode Tan points to an interesting story in The Seattle Times that finds some similarities between TV show Lost and video games.

Lost is the first television program that owes its soul to video games. Remember the feeling you got the first time you tried a treasure hunt? For fans willing to "game" the show, it's the same thrill.

Unlike traditionally passive television shows, which expect viewers to zone out in a couch-potato haze, Lost, which returns with new episodes Wednesday night, has embedded clues throughout. It's these recurring tidbits and the patterns they form that make Lost the first show to resemble a video game.

I think it's more an issue that Lost is more engaging than your typical television show and video games are getting better at telling stories. The two are really growing closer together, it's not just TV becoming more like a game.

Is Lost Like An Interactive Game [Cathode Tan]

It's tacked on to the end of a GameSpot piece about how the Xbox 360 will sell three million units in three months, but during tonight's Lost on ABC, there will be a major Xbox 360 commercial. Good ad positioning by Microsoft, I wonder what the ad will be. Anyone have any hunches or insider dirt? Comment or email tips@kotaku.com if you need a comment invite.

Microsoft to Sell 3 Million 360s in Three Months? [GameSpot]