Kotaku: radio

BBC iPlayer Gets Its Own Wii Channel

Mike Fahey — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:20:00 MST

The UK's iPlayer TV and Radio on demand server for the Wii gets an upgrade next week, graduating from Wii Internet Channel feature to full-on BBC iPlayer Wii Channel.

Starting at 12:01am on Wednesday, November 18th, Wii owners in the UK will be able to download the new BBC iPlayer Wii Channel, giving them instant access to recent television and radio programs on demand without having to navigate to the service via the Wii Internet Channel. The upgraded service now features a full-screen interface for a higher quality experience overall. Nintendo UL general manager David Yarnton talks up the new channel.

"Our partnership with the BBC is another way in which Nintendo is looking to broaden the market for its products by offering compelling and relevant content to families. BBC iPlayer offers Wii owners another reason to turn their console on everyday and adds to the already established non gaming content on Wii that includes Wii Channels for news, weather forecasts and an internet browser."

Yes, another reason to turn your Wii on every day, along with all of those other perfectly valid reasons, which I am sure will strike me any moment now.

Jury Awards $16 Million in Fatal Win-a-Wii Stunt

Owen Good — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:00:00 MDT

A jury awarded $16 million to the family of a Sacramento-area woman who died in a 2007 radio stunt in which participants chugged water and held their bladders in order to win a Wii.

Jennifer Strange (pictured), a mom to three kids, died of apparent water intoxication during "Hold Your Wee for a Wii," a contest held by KDND-FM of Sacramento in January 2007, not two months after the Wii debuted and demand for the console was white-hot.

The jury found the station negligent in the death, especially for ignoring several warnings that the point of the stunt - drinking a ton of water and refusing to pee - could have fatal consequences.

Ten station employees were fired after the death; Entercom Sacramento, the company that owns KDND, sounds like it will not be appealing the verdict. A spokesman told the Los Angeles Times that, "We respect the jury's decision and hope that it will assist the Strange family in coping with its loss."

During the trial a tape of the program revealed that an on-air host had mentioned the potential fatal effects of drinking too much water - citing a 2005 fraternity hazing death. A listener also called to advise they not try the stunt.

Strange was trying to win the console for her three children. She finished in second place. After the contest she rushed with the winner to the bathroom to vomit; by the afternoon, she was dead.

Jury Awards $16 Million to Family in Fatal Radio Prank [Los Angeles Times, thanks Andres B.]

Radio Station Sells Soul To Nintendo

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:30:00 MDT

Sydney radio station 2UE are one of the biggest radio stations in Australia. And a reasonably respected one to boot. So it's a little strange/sad to see that, for the next three weeks, the station have changed their name to 2U-Wii. GET IT. This isn't a throwaway joke, either; every logo and watermark on the station's website bears the new, temporary 2U-Wii logo. 2UE:

It’s not often that an opportunity like this comes along where a brand such as 2UE can totally embrace a promotional concept in this manner.

Can't have been cheap. Could have been a little more restrained, though. Guess subtlety is a dying art form.

2UE Becomes 2U Wii [2UE, via Go Nintendo]

Survey: One Third Of Gamers Buy Music Game Songs

Leigh Alexander — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:20:00 MDT

Have you bought a song or album because of Guitar Hero or Rock Band? Jacobs Media, a radio consulting company did a survey that found one third of players buy songs from the games, calling music video games "game changers" for rock music.

Big label artists obviously agree, with Metallica, Aerosmith and Coldplay on their way down the pipeline hoping to introduce new fans to their tunes through the magic of mashing brightly-colored buttons on plastic instruments.

Jacobs Media also pointed out there's an internet radio station, RadioIO, with a channel that plays nothing but rhythm game music. No one's gonna taaaake me aliiiiiiiiive.

Have music games influenced your taste in music, or your buying habits? And while we're at it, what's your favorite track from Guitar Hero or Rock Band?

Video Gamers Tuning to Guitar Heroes Online for Music to Play, Practice and Purchase
Become a “guitar hero” in a “rock band” with This New Internet Music Channel

TAMPA, Fla.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Last month, radio consultant Jacobs Media’s Tech Survey IV: Rock-Based Video Games found that music-based video games are having a significant, positive impact on music discovery and sales. Nearly one-third of players surveyed said they’ve purchased songs featured in the popular video music games Guitar Hero (Activision) and Rock Band (Harmonix/MTV Games).

More new versions have been announced for release soon (Guitar Hero on Tour on 6/22, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith on 6/29, Rock Band for Wii on 6/29, and Guitar Hero 4 in Fall 2008, with Guitar Hero: Metallica and Rock Band 2 reported to be in the works), and Chris Martin of rock band Coldplay recently announced that his band has added a new song to Guitar Hero, for the first time.

Clearly, music-based video game players are becoming game changers when it comes to rock music – and are one reason why Internet radio pioneer RadioIO launched Guitar Heroes (www.radioio.com/channels/guitar-heroes) earlier this year. Guitar Heroes is the first streaming music channel that plays nothing but the guitar-driven rock music found in today’s hot music video games. Now any player, at any time, anywhere can log on and hear tracks especially selected for “guitar heroes” in “rock bands.”

The idea for Guitar Heroes was suggested by a RadioIO listener, who wanted to hear more songs that she and her son could use to improve their Guitar Hero-playing skills together. “Sure, we take requests for entire music channels, not just songs,” laughed RadioIO founder Mike Roe. “But because gamers and Internet radio listeners are two groups that are always ahead of the curve when it comes to Internet usage and music entertainment, it made perfect sense for RadioIO to put the two together by creating Guitar Heroes.”

The job of developing and managing Guitar Heroes fell to longtime RadioIO music director Robert Goodman. “I realized it would be cool to create a channel that plays all the tracks from both series of games, all unlockable content as well as all downloadable content,” he explained.

From his home base in Orange Park, Florida, Goodman crafts sets of songs that are played along to by many of the more than 220,000 music fans who tune in to Guitar Heroes every month. The channel features rock tracks including "Sabotage" (Beastie Boys), "Barracuda" (Heart), "Are You Gonna Go My Way" (Lenny Kravitz), "Cult of Personality" (Living Colour), "Even Flow" (Pearl Jam), "Kool Thing" (Sonic Youth), "Rock and Roll All Nite" (Kiss), "Rock of Ages" (Def Leppard), "Welcome to the Jungle" (Guns N' Roses) and "One" (Metallica). And Goodman does take and play song requests, as do all RadioIO music directors.

Guitar Heroes is one of 60 proprietary music channels streaming at www.RadioIO.com. Launched as a single music stream in 1999 by music lover Roe in his home, RadioIO (“radio EYE-OH”, for “Internet only”), the world’s first publicly-traded Internet radio operation, has grown into one of the Internet’s most resilient music brands. RadioIO is featured on directories including iTunes, WindowsMedia.com and Real.com, and enjoys more than 30 integral partnerships with Palm, Philips, Sonos, Escient and Slim Devices, among others. Wireless access is available via RadioIO’s IO2go service, or any SmartPhone. To experience and learn more about RadioIO, go to www.radioIO.com.

About RadioIO:

RadioIO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IOWorld Media, Inc. (Pink Sheets:IWDM), which is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and is dedicated to identifying, testing and marketing innovative consumer media alternatives. IOWorld Media currently owns www.RadioIO.com, an advertiser-supported, multi-channel Internet radio station, and searchPlay, LLC. SearchPlay™ technology moves the Internet search engine to inside the media player, revolutionizing the way listeners search while listening online.

Sessler, Thompson Square Off On NPR Over Grand Theft Auto IV

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:20:00 MDT

X-Play co-host Adam Sessler joined Neal Conan on the NPR radio show Talk of the Nation earlier today to talk about the recent release of Grand Theft Auto IV. While the majority of the segment seemed to focus on relating GTA IV player experiences and informing the NPR audience on the realities, less so the media fantasies, of all things Grand Theft Auto, it took a dive about seven minutes in. That's when John "Jack" Thompson phoned in to drop his special brand of disinformation.

He regurgitated the standard anti-Take-Two spiel—albeit a bit more alliteratively, saying the company is "mentally molesting minors for money"—and threatening that he was working with unspecified law enforcement agencies to bring criminal charges against the publisher and Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick. That would be for claims of "graphic sex", not for the purported vandalizing of his Miami-area home.

Conan asks if Jack has actually played the game. The answer won't surprise you. The segment is worth a listen, as is NPR's previous coverage of GTA IV. And do stick around for Jack's sign off!

Grand Theft Auto Steals The Spotlight [NPR]

GTA IV DLC Arriving This Summer?

Mark Wilson — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:20:00 MDT

Rockstar's "Lazlow" (one of the game's DJs) made another appearance on the Opie and Anthony show this morning. This time he claimed that the Xbox 360's DLC is being worked on at the moment and could see the light of day as early as this summer. Not much was said about PS3 DLC other than he hoped to see it happen in the future. Our guess is that Microsoft will release the DLC whenever it works best with their general plan of attack—be that as soon as Rockstar finishes the content or months later—since paying $50 million and ruling a platform probably affords you such luxuries.

O&A talk GTA IV [Loot Ninja via Maxconsole]

Two New GTA IV Radio Widgets Hit

Brian Crecente — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 10:00:35 MDT

Yesterday's Grand Theft Auto IV info glut didn't just include 20 new screens, there were also a handful of new wallpapers featuring drugs, cops, guns and tatas. There were also two new widgets for two more radio stations. Hit the jump to listen to the grooves of K109 The Studio and the rants of WKTT Talk Radio.

K109 The Studio

WKTT

Radio Station to Broadcast People Playing Rock Band on Air

fdemarco — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:00:00 MST

If you're like me you probably read the headline and thought: WTF? But apparently it's true. A DJ at east coast radio station WFMU will be playing Rock Band live on the air tomorrow morning with the help of some local listeners over LIVE (with the exception of the singers who will have to come to the studio). Now, I can kind of see this working from a vocals end if you cranked it up high enough, but all in all it seems a bit ridiculous and will likely leave many listeners confused. In a related note, if you tune in to the same station the following week you can listen to me dance the lead in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

Rock Band (The Video Game) LIVE on WFMU! Rock with us! [WFMU]

"Do Gamers Read?"

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:00:36 MST

Once again, further proof that mainstream press shouldn't let just anyone cover games! National Public Radio's Chana Joffe-Walt has an interview with Halo: Contact Harvest author Joseph Staten. The book was a New York Times best seller, but Joffe-Walt couldn't care less. Not only is she ignorant about gaming, she's brings her own ill-informed prejudices to the the interview. There are exchanges like this:

Joffe-Walt: "Yes, my fellow non-gaming Luddites, there is a story to Halo. I know, I thought the same thing. Isn't gaming all just shoot'em up? Why do you need story?"
Staten: "I think to understand why stories are important in games, you need to actually play them."

But wait, there's more! That, after the jump.

Joffe-Walt: "Which brings me to another frank and ridiculous question, 'Do gamers read?'" (Keep in mind, she's asking a NY Times best selling author this.)

And lastly...

Staten: "You're dealing with an internet connection, high savvy audience." Joffe-Walt: "Geeks, you're dealing with geeks."

And we're dealing with a hack journo. We're not asking you to be an expert, just respectful. Listen Here [NPR via Joystiq via Go Nintendo]

DS Lite Radio!

Kim Phu — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:40:00 MDT

Clicking blindly through Japanese websites, I came across this little jem which is genius. The Cyber FM Radio is an attachment that uses the DS Lite's GBA slot to turn your DS into a beach-toting, mini radio. FM frequencies range from 76.0 MHz - 90.0 MHz, so you can probably at least get NPR, but the website suggests that (translated from Japanese):

The picture of DS Lite as the simple prevention of disasters goods that in the light/write substituting, you catch disaster information with the FM radio, you can use at the time of disaster of 10001.

I just love bad translations. This also makes me super curious on what a disaster of 10001 proportions can lead to. Kim Phu

Cyber FM Radio [Cyber Gadget]

Virgin Radio Streaming To Wii & PS3

Mike Fahey — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:20:40 MDT

PlayStation 3 and Wii users around the world can now tune into Virgin Radio via their consoles. The UK radio station has launched streams specifically for owners of the two consoles, accessible via their respective web browsers. Since neither system supports Real Player or Windows Media, the station has added MP3 streaming to the mix. Simply navigate to the Virgin Radio website and pick the MP3 stream.

Virgin Radio digital media director James Cridland has high hopes for the future of both consoles as media delivery devices.

This platform has great growth potential, particularly among early-adopters and 25-44 audience popular with advertisers. Playstation 3 or Wii will become the entertainment hub in your front room. We have worked hard to make the station available on as many different platforms as possible.

An entirely new source of console-based advertising revenue, only unlike in-game advertising you can't play a game while listening to the radio at the same time. For that you'd need some sort of miracle machine...a multi-tasking computational device, capable of streaming music while playing video games? I know it sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, but one day.

Keep in mind there are plenty of MP3 streaming non-commercial networks out there (mmmm, SomaFM), and if you really must turn your $250-$600 console into a radio, might as well go ad-free. Michael Fahey

[Digital Spy]
Virgin Radio streamed to games consoles

Station Fires Ten Responsible For Deadly Wii Contest

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:40:59 MST

According to the Sacramento Bee, ten employees of the radio station KDND (107.9, the end) have been fired for their role in a contest for a Nintendo Wii which allegedly lead to the death of one listener. In addition to the firing of the DJs and radio "personalities", the station also saw fit to cancel the "Morning Rave" program.

Jennifer Strange, 28 and mother of three, died of suspected water intoxication in the station's ill-conceived "Hold your Wee for a Wii" competition.

I'll reserve further comment, but hope this leads to a massive wave of morning radio personality firings. Michael McWhertor

Radio station fires 10 in wake of contestant's death [via Digg]
Woman Dies Participating In Wii Contest [Kotaku]

Clips: PS3 Vs. Steamroller Vs. Christmas

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:21:49 MST

More busting-shit-up idiocy. This time we've got a radio station (doing YouTube stuff, go figure) quizzing some guy named Daniel. Correct questions get him closer to the PS3. Wrong ones get the steamroller closer. The questions are tough — though, I so knew the Boxing Day question 'cos Alice at Wonderland explained it to me last week! The end result? PS3s can give steamrollers some air. Brian Ashcraft

Radio Program Puts Wii-mote In Blender For Funnsies

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 12:22:09 MST

This is probably why I don't listen to the radio. No wait, this is exactly why I don't listen to the radio. Brian Ashcraft

Thanks, omlette

Bill O'Reilly Hates PS3, You

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:40:03 MST

Liver spotted luddite Bill O'Reilly, published novelist and TV and radio joke character, went off on a very fashionable rant this weekend. Calling gamers "know-nots" and equating them with drug addicts and alcoholics, the "no-spin" tool defines us as:

Now you have the "knows" and the "know-nots", because if you spend all your youth being prisoners of machines... you're not going to know anything... You're gonna fail.

Oh no! I'm a prisoner of my machine! I can't possibly have healthy relationships, responsibility, maturity, and play video games. Who will free me from my PlayStation shackles?! Speaking of the PlayStation, Billy marveled—or pretended to be disgusted—that gamers lined up for "hours" (!) to buy a PS3. You know, digital opium.

Check out the GamePolitics post for more fantastic O'Reilly blanket statements and scare tactic editorializing. Michael McWhertor

Bill O'Reilly Slams PS3 Launch, Gamers, iPods, Digital Tech (not in that order) [GamePolitics]

Sirius' Video Game Radio Show

Brian Crecente — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 08:00:42 MST

Major Nelson was on Level Up yesterday, Sirius Satellite's new radio show dedicated to video games. I'm just curious if anyone has checked the show out yet. Major Nelson says that the show is relatively basic and not really for hardcore gamers, that, combined with the fact that its on the Maxim channel, leads me to believe it sucks. Please tell me I'm wrong, we need a good video game radio show to match all of those good video game TV shows... oh, wait.

Major Nelson on Sirius [Major Nelson]

National Parks Killer? Video Games

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 12:22:58 MDT

Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and Big Bend. National Public Radio, where I get all my gaming news, did a piece on how video games are hurting America's national parks. No, really. NPR's website has a summary of the broadcast:

A new study shows that there has been a sharp decline in the percentage of Americans visiting national parks. The authors aren't sure what's causing it, but it may be related to the increasing use of video games.

Some expert named Oliver Pergrams says the decline of national park visitors is due to high gas prices, extreme sports and video games. He then says video games are linked to obesity. And anyone that's not smart enough to figure out that it's the sitting-on-your-ass-for-hours-on-end part and not video games that make people tubby, shouldn't be on air. Nice one, NPR. Looking forward to next week's program blaming video games for lung cancer and herpes. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [NPR] Thanks, Christopher!

NPR Does Brain Age

brownlee — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 13:40:22 MDT

We love it when real journalists talk about games. Somehow, they always seem nerdier about it than you or I could ever hope to be. For example, Robert Holt talking about Brain Age over at NPR.

Holt seems to dig the game, but isn't quite sure it actually made him smarter. Well, no duh, Robert. This isn't Flowers for Algernon. Nothing can make you smarter. It's all about learning to conduct electricity through the shallow pool of IQ points you do have.

It's an entertaining segment, though. If you're as addicted to all things Brain Agey as we are, you might well check it out.

Nintendo Offers Video Games to Boost Brain Power [NPR]

PSP Pumpin' Out the Radio

lsmith — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 13:40:33 MST

Homebrew saw a new release of PSP Radio over the weekend (see image). The homebrew app lets users plug into the radio via WiFi and listen to a ton of different stations. One of our big homebrew tipsters checked in and said everything is running and sounding great.

Download PSPRadio [Download.QJ.net]