Topic: THUG 2 on the GC Uses DivX

[TheYoungerPlumber]

Activision and DivX create a press release highlighting Nintendo's smaller discs.

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 for Nintendo GameCube'TM' Offers Action Sports  Cinematics in High-Quality DivX Video  

New Installment to Hugely Popular Skateboarding Video Game Franchise Uses  Cutting-Edge DivX(R) Video Technology  

 Tony Hawk's Underground 2 for the Nintendo GameCube, the new title from  developer Neversoft Entertainment and publisher Activision, utilizes  patent-pending DivX(R) video compression technology for stunning in-game  cinematics, DivXNetworks, Inc. announced today.  

The follow-up to the hugely popular Tony Hawk's Underground, Tony Hawk's  Underground 2 sends gamers globetrotting on a sick international road trip  with Tony Hawk and Bam Margera. The latest evolution in the #1 action sports  franchise, Tony Hawk's Underground 2 delivers a hilarious story mode, an  unprecedented level of customization, and more moves than the Skate Gods  could dream of.  

Neversoft Entertainment licensed the industry leading DivX video technology  to create DVD-quality cinematics for Tony Hawk's Underground 2 that provide  a thrilling visual experience while offering unparalleled compression ratios  to save disk space. DivX technology was also used for cinematics in Tony  Hawk's Underground. DivX, among the world's most popular video compression  technologies with over 130 million downloads, has become the de facto  standard for high-quality cinematics throughout the gaming industry.  

"As avid fans of Tony Hawk's Underground, the DivX team is extremely excited  about the release of Tony Hawk's Underground 2 and even more stoked that  DivX video technology is once again being used to encode cinematic scenes  throughout the game," said Jordan Greenhall, CEO and co-founder of  DivXNetworks, Inc. "Neversoft and Activision have created an awesome gaming  experience that is a perfect fit with the DivX brand."  

"DivX video is not only the highest quality video technology for in-game  cinematics, but it also provides encoding speed and compression not possible  with other solutions," said Kevin Mulhall, Producer at Neversoft  Entertainment. "We're happy to continue our partnership with the DivX team  with the release Tony Hawk's Underground 2."  

The DivX video Software Development Kit (SDK) enables developers to create  highly compressed cinematics for the PC, Mac, Xbox, and Gamecube platforms.  Offering superior compression, DVD-quality and faster-than real time  encoding speeds, DivX has redefined the cut-scene experience for millions of  consumers. Often called the "MP3 of Video," DivX has been downloaded over  130 million times and enables 7-10 times greater compression than MPEG-2,  the DVD standard.  

For more information on DivX for gaming,  visithttp://www.divxnetworks.com/solutions/gaming/pc.php.  

To learn more about Tony Hawk's Underground 2, go to  http://www.activision.com/microsite/thug2/.  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Yay DivX

[Renny]

Minus 2 years.

Why is this in a press release now?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Cuz it's time ANOTHER developer finally stopped playing dumb dumb, paid for the codec license, and started using DivX for FMV instead of giving Cube owners teh sHaft and low-quality video.

Thank Factor5 for helping develop the SDK.  Shun almost every other developer for ignoring the format.  DivX is also a viable HD-video format as well, so people better start wising up and taking notice.

[Famicom]

It's still kinda redundant information, since THUG 1 used DIVX as well. Tony Hawk 4 did too IIRC.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Ah, you're right.

This news is actually more important to DivX Networks than it is to gaming, since it's DivX that's trying to get users/developers/movie companies to use their products.

Seeing WMV adjacent to QT together on GameSpy/IGN pages makes me cringe.  Isn't one bad enough?

[seen33]

if nintendo just used larger discs to begin with.. Divx wouldent be needed

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Still wouldn't help.  There's developers who have the luxury of higher-capacity PS2/Xb discs, and STILL put out poor video in their games.

[Infernal Monkey]

(EA Games, am I right)

Sega CD games have better FMV than what EA churn out on GameCube.