A start-up started telling the world Monday about its idea for predicting traffic jams, even though it wasn't the company that developed the technology.

Rather, the core advances that are launching Seattle area start-up Inrix came entirely from Microsoft's research labs. Though other corporate research labs have for years spun out unneeded technologies to start-ups, the Inrix deal is the first time Microsoft has decided to license out its research know-how.

"We still hope the vast majority of Microsoft Research technology is going to end up in Microsoft products," said David Kaefer, director of business development in Microsoft's intellectual-property group. "Sometimes they come up with great ideas that really aren't part of our core business plans."

News source: C|Net News.com

Cont...

2KGames
Activision Inc.
Atari Inc.
Bandai Co. Ltd.
Bethesda Softworks LLC
Buena Vista Games Inc.
Capcom Co. Ltd.
Codemasters Software Company Ltd.
Eidos Inc.
Electronic Arts Inc.
FromSoftware Inc.
InterServ International
KOEI Co. Ltd.
Konami Corp.
LucasArts
Majesco Entertainment
Midway Games Inc.
Namco Ltd.
Phantagram Co. Ltd.
Rockstar Games
SCi Games Ltd.
SEGA
Tecmo Ltd.
THQ Inc.
TWP Corp.
Ubisoft Entertainment
Vivendi Universal Games Inc.

In addition to listing the publishers, Microsoft also listed the high-profile developers currently working on games for the next Xbox. Curiously missing from the developer list is Valve Software, which is widely believed to be working on current- and/or next-generation Xbox versions of its PC smash hit, Half-Life 2. The full list, which was also in the GNN story, contained the following companies:

BioWare Corp.
Bizarre Creations Ltd.
Bungie Studios
Epic Games Inc.
FASA Studio
Lionhead Studios Ltd.
Rare Ltd.
Game Republic Inc. (Yoshiki Okamoto)
Mistwalker (Hironobu Sakaguchi)
Q Entertainment Inc.(Tetsuya Mizuguchi)

Microsoft's release also reiterated the message delivered by corporate vice president and chief XNA architect J Allard at his GDC keynote in March. Namely, the next-generation Xbox will usher in the "HD Era" of gaming with its "high-definition graphics, extraordinary benefits of constant connectedness, and exceptional personalization abilities." Without getting specific, Microsoft also said the next Xbox will feature "multichannel audio fidelity," "richer online communication" (most likely the video messaging shown at last year's E3), and an "abundance of on-demand content delivered by the Microsoft Xbox Live service."

For readers who still had not gotten its point, Micorsoft also featured a passel of quotes from publishing executives. To a person, they praised the forthcoming platform, and divulged a few details in the process. Among them were:

--Activision, Atari, Bandai, Buena Vista, Capcom, Codemasters, EA, Konami, and Midway are all working on multiple titles for the console.

--Sega is bringing Sonic the Hedgehog and other games from its "stable of popular franchises" to the platform.

--One or more of Rockstar Games' internal studios--either Rockstar San Diego (Midnight Club), Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas), or Rockstar Vancouver (currently working on "original action titles")--is developing games for the platform. (Rockstar Leeds is a developer for handheld platforms.)

--Massively multiplayer online role-playing game developer/publisher Webzen is working on a game that will take advantage of the next version of Xbox Live's "stable service and online capabilities." Recently, the company announced APB, a crime-based MMORPG from Grand Theft Auto creator David Jones.

Also Tucked away in Microsoft's announcement was word of Microsoft's plans for forthcoming titles for the current-generation Xbox. Near the end of the statement, Microsoft states that it is "fully committed to this generation," and that Xbox owners can expect new titles into 2007.




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Quote this comment Reply to this comment #1 Posted by nic on 11 Apr 2005 - 15:47
predicting traffic jams and re-routing traffic by letting the driver know the best path is the wave of the future.

I thought research and development are the most expensive and time demanding parts of making a product. Seems like MS would have their research labs busy with their own work. Oh well..more power to them (I bet they charge up the nose).
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