SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Have video games finally gone mainstream?

After decades of Hollywood adaptations of hit game franchises like Eidos’ "Tomb Raider," Capcom’s "Resident Evil" and Konami’s "Silent Hill," Hollywood has created the first film that is designed to really speak to the video game generation.

The release of Universal Pictures’ "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" marks a milestone, of sorts, for the $50 billion global video game business.

While director Edgar Wright’s film is based on a series of comic books by Bryan Lee O’Malley, not a video game, the universe he’s created weaves classic video game elements with an alternate reality that focuses on a cast of 20-something gamers.

In other words, it’s the first Hollywood feature created by gamers, for gamers.

"Scott Pilgrim is somebody who’s grown up being a gamer, which has given him unearned confidence in some areas, and then in other areas he has no idea how to deal with people in the sense that he hurts people’s feelings without realizing it or he’s kind of thoughtless sometimes," said Wright.

The central plot of this different love story also revolves around games.

Scott Pilgrim (played by Michael Cera) must battle the seven evil "exes" of his new girlfriend Ramona Flowers (played by played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead).

Each battle is set up with a "vs." on the screen right out of classic fighting games like Capcom’s "Street Fighter II."

When enemies are defeated they explode into coins like characters from Nintendo’s "Super Mario Bros."

GAMING REFERENCES THROUGHOUT

The first image viewers see on the screen is a digital Universal Pictures globe, accompanied by mono-synthesized music straight out of the classic Nintendo Entertainment System from the 1990s.

The characters in the film discuss video games like Microsoft’s "Halo" franchise and Nintendo’s "Legend of Zelda."

"I think these things make the movie very emotionally nostalgic for a lot of people because I mean everyone played Nintendo," said Cera, who headlines a young cast of Hollywood gamers.

Cera said it was fun to step into the role of the comic book character, who essentially stars in his own video game.

"It was nice because I got to re-visit my childhood," said Cera. "I brought my Nintendo from my parent’s house to my apartment and played every night after work. I played "Super Mario Bros. 3″ a lot and "Contra" and "Battletoads.""

According to the Entertainment Software Association, 68 percent of Americans play video games. With the average age of a gamer now 35, there’s a huge movie-going audience who will laugh at the references within the new film.

For example, as Scott Pilgrim defeats each enemy, he receives a larger amount of coins for each kill and a high score counter appears on screen.

"I think when you hear those video game noises or references like that you immediately click with the movie," said Kieran Culkin, who plays Scott’s roommate Wallace Wells.

According to Nielsen Research, 9.3 percent of American video game households’ monthly entertainment dollars is spent on video games.

That bodes well for Ubisoft, which has a new downloadable "Scott Pilgrim" arcade game available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game maker collaborated with Wright to bring the comic to virtual life in a retro, 2D action/fighting game.

"When you see Scott grab an ‘extra life’ icon in the movie, that image comes directly from our game," said Michael Micholic, senior brand manager, Ubisoft.

"We’ve taken a lot of stuff from the movie that they’ve been willing to share with us and put it in the game."

(Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

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Fri, Aug 6 2010

Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd smiles at a news conference announcing his appointment at HP headquarters in Palo Alto, California in this March 30, 2005 file photo. Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Hurd resigned on August 6, 2010 following an investigation of sexual harassment, the world’s top computer maker said.

Credit: Reuters/Lou Dematteis/Files

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The female contractor whose sexual harassment accusation against Mark Hurd led to his ouster as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard came forward on Sunday, saying she never intended for Hurd to lose his job.

The woman, Jodie Fisher, revealed her identity for the first time through a statement released by her attorney, Gloria Allred.

"I was surprised and saddened that Mark Hurd lost his job over this," she said. "That was never my intention."

Fisher is former salesperson and has appeared in movies and TV shows, most recently the show "Age of Love" on NBC.

HP stunned the business world on Friday by announcing Hurd’s resignation, accusing him of falsifying expense reports to conceal a "close personal relationship" with a female contractor.

Fisher told HP’s board in June that Hurd had sexually harassed her, but an investigation found no violation of the company’s sexual harassment policy.

Fisher said Sunday she has resolved her claim against Hurd privately, but did not provide any further details.

"At HP, I was under contract to work at high-level customer and executive summit events held around the country and abroad," Fisher said. "I prepared for those events, worked very hard and enjoyed working for HP."

Fisher worked as a contractor for HP from late 2007 through 2009.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; Editing by Diane Craft)

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The day ahead: July 22, 2010

Wed, Jul 21 2010

Packages of the new Windows operating system, Windows 7 sit on a desk before being installed in Golden, Colorado in this October 22, 2009 file photo.

Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Signs point to strong results for Microsoft Corp as companies get around to buying computers after a two-year drought, but its stock may find it tough to gain altitude amid worries about where growth will come from in coming years.

Intel Corp smashed Wall Street’s expectations last week, pointing to resurgent demand from corporations for computers and servers. But IBM disappointed on Tuesday with weak technology services signings, in a surprise hint of weakness in IT spending.

Investors appear to have anticipated good news from Microsoft — whose stock has outperformed in July — but are now demanding to see more from a company struggling to make its mark in the pivotal and fast-growth areas of smartphones, tablet computers and search advertising.

Microsoft will announce fiscal fourth-quarter results on Thursday.

The company is gearing up to launch new phone software to catch Apple Inc and strives to raise consumers’ pulses with a range of Windows-powered tablet devices and its untested Kinect motion gaming platform.

Meanwhile, its Bing Internet search engine is posting solid market share growth but remains miles behind Google Inc.

"Everyone knows that Microsoft is going to have a pretty big quarter, but there’s really not a lot to get excited about beyond that," said Toan Tran, an analyst at Morningstar. "We know PCs are doing well so Windows is going to do well. Beyond Windows 7, what does Microsoft have going?"

Microsoft’s shares are up 10.4 percent this month, surpassing a 7.5 percent rise in the Standard & Poor’s 500 and an 8.3 percent rise in the Nasdaq. But they are sitting around the $25 mark — where they were a year ago — and well below the heights achieved during the tech-stock boom a decade ago.

Apple, which has seen its stock soar over the past several years with a string of highly popular consumer electronics products, made waves in May when it passed Microsoft as the world’s most valuable technology company. Analysts say it may now surpass Microsoft in revenue as well.

StarMine data shows the stock has tepid upside momentum, assigning it a long-term momentum score of 40 out of 100.

TECH SPENDING RETURNS

Data from Thomson Reuters StarMine show that analysts’ estimates for Microsoft’s earnings have been creeping up as more optimistic signals emerge over the past three months.

Analysts expect earnings of 46 cents per share, excluding items, on sales of $15.3 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. That is well above 36 cents per share on revenue of $13.1 billion a year ago.

SmartEstimates — which puts more weight on the timeliest estimates from the most accurate analysts — suggest Microsoft will deliver profit about 1.6 percent above average estimates.

When companies buy PCs, they often install new — and more expensive — versions of Microsoft software, which has a direct effect on its margins. Global PC sales surged 22.4 percent in the second quarter, industry tracker IDC said this week, helped by strong demand from businesses.

Microsoft said this week it has already sold more than 150 million copies of its Windows 7 operating system since launching it October. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said he expected sales of 350 million PCs running Windows this year, confirming its status as the fastest-selling operating system ever.

"Corporate PCs are starting to pick up. Intel validated that," said Kim Caughey, senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. "A lot of companies are thinking, these old PCs are sucking the life out of my IT department, lets get a new generation of these things in here’."

Another potential growth driver is Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming console, which competes with Nintendo’s leading Wii and Sony’s PlayStation. Analysts are cautiously upbeat on "Kinect", which is selling in time for the holiday season. Though at $150 deemed costly by some, others say it could take the gesture-gaming concept popularized by the Wii to a new, controller-free level.

(Editing by Edwin Chan, Bernard Orr)

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