Chiun's Castle Infinity Information If you're looking for newer stuff, go here. Disney absorbs rest of Starwave Year after partnership began, firm exercises option to buy By Emory Thomas Jr. MSNBC ‘It positions us to take advantage of the Internet’s potential.’ — MICHAEL EISNER CEO, Disney April 30 — The Walt Disney Co., which invested in Internet news and sports information company Starwave Corp. a year ago, said Thursday it has exercised its option to purchase the rest of the company. Since April 1997, Disney had owned roughly a third of Starwave, and billionaire investor Paul Allen — founder of the company and co-founder of Microsoft — had owned the rest. THE INITIAL investment, for roughly 30 percent of Starwave, was widely estimated to be worth $80 million to $100 million. But Disney, which has been the most aggressive of the major entertainment companies in the online sphere, has not disclosed terms of any of the Starwave transactions. "The addition of Starwave’s demonstrated talents, expertise and technological resources strengthens our ability to reach more people everywhere through a medium already powerful though still in its infancy," said Michael Eisner, Disney’s chairman and CEO, in a prepared statement. Disney has operated ABCNEWS.com and ESPN SportsZone in joint ventures with Seattle-based Starwave. The ventures will now become part of Buena Vista Internet Group, which is responsible for Disney’s online operations. Other Internet properties now fully in the Disney fold include Mr. Showbiz, CelebSite, Wall of Sound and the official Web sites for the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, WNBA and Outside magazine. By combining the operations, Disney hopes to gain some synergies it says couldn’t exist otherwise. "In terms of advertising and sponsorship, this allows us to go to the General Motors and IBMs of the world in a more coordinated fashion," said Jake Winebaum, chairman of Buena Vista Internet Group, in an interview Thursday. Winebaum and Disney have been more aggressive than most Internet businesses in seeking online sales from sources other than advertising. Its Daily Blast kids service, for instance, charges a monthly subscription fee, and the company has pushed hard to boost online sales of merchandise and theme park accommodations. Starwave’s Seattle office will serve as the core technology developer for the entire Buena Vista Internet Group, providing technology tools for database management, Web traffic analysis, advertising management and Web publishing systems for all Buena Vista Internet Group sites including Disney.com, Disney’s Daily Blast and ABC.com, Disney said. The Seattle operation also will retain some of the online editorial operations for ABCNEWS, ESPN and the other sites. Mike Slade, Starwave’s chairman and CEO, will become president of Buena Vista Internet Group. Patrick Naughton, Starwave’s president and chief technology officer, will become the company’s chief technology officer. Digital Evolution Digital Evolution has finally physically received the server computers that make up Castle Infinity. They're still waiting for more information from Starwave. No decision has been made yet about whether they will start up from where things left off, or if they will make changes before they restart it, and what changes and how extensive they're likely to be. I can certainly understand the problem. There are certainly some changes they're going to have to make, like changing the introductory sequence that so clearly lets us know it's a Starwave product. Coming up with a suitable intro is no trivial thing, even if the technical aspect is not difficult. And without casting asparagus on their techincal abilities, with the complexity of the code for C8, if they make some of the technical changes the Castle really needs, it's likely those changes will cause unanticipated problems that could significantly delay the start. Again, not because of any lack of talent or ability on their part--remember when we could fall through the floor and how much trouble that caused? (And how much fun? :o) I think they should bring it up as quickly as possible the way it was. Quite truthfully, I'm torn between starting everybody over again with nothing and zero score, and leaving things as they were. I guess I'm more in favor of keeping our scores and stuff, because where would we ever get jelly racers or ivory grow caps again? Well, Good Luck to them, and Good Luck to us! See ya in the Castle, Schmassle! From the C8 Page!! Digital Evolution has acquired the game Castle Infinity as a part of an exclusive licensing arrangement, effective immediately. As the new operators and distributors of the Castle, Digital Evolution will schedule the Castle's reopening and the terms of gameplay. Finally! The Newsweek Article! Exerpted from NewsweekExtra, Winter 1997 (published October 1997), page 64, "With a Modem, the More the Merrier": ...Castle Infinity is another one of these social worlds, but smaller and safe for kids. The official object of the game is to find and kill the monsters using ammunition like odoriferous (sic) chunks of cheese and air freshener. But kids, in disguise as cartoonish avatars, often just stand around and chat. "Hi! How old are you?" is a common opener. Inside the castle it's G rated: swear words appear as "flower" in chat balloons and postcards. "We can see exactly what's been written and who said it, says Kate Otey, a game host. "The kids are really good about monitoring each other." They probably sense that parents are lurking around. California mom Andrea Quitt thinks she logs more hours in the game than her 9-year-old daughter Marissa does. "I like to find body parts and cheese," she says. Her husband, Kevin, is one of the castle's all-time high scorers. As parents, they think that Castle Infinity can be educational as well as fan because it teaches socialization skills and demands that kids work together in order to accomplish certain tasks. In fact, they can't think of anything they dislike about Castle Infinity except maybe for kids playing too long; Marissa once played for six straight hours. Addiction, it seems, isn't just for hard-core gamers. Jennifer Tanaka Sorry, still no news on when C8 will be coming up. Presumably, the sale has not been completed as queries to Starwave are not being redirected to a different company. I, for one, can't imagine what could be holding things up. Well, good luck to us all. Need to rearrange the people in your friends list? Want to eliminate duplicate names? Want the names alphabetized? You need Chiun's C8 Friends List Manager For those of you who make it this far, here's the Castle's Deepest Darkest, Most Amazing Secret, revealed to the world for the first time, right here. Did you ever wonder about Stella, and who she is, and why there's so much cheese in the Castle? Well, now you know! Ever wondered how exploration points are calculated? According to Kate, the first room is 1 point, the second room adds 1 point to the bonus for the room, so you get 2 for the room (3 so far), the third room adds 2 points to the bonus for the room, so you get 4 for the room (7 so far). Make sense? Here's a table that summarizes the scoring. The Family That Plays Together, Stays Together! See the Castle Infinity Christmas Tree, courtesy of Heyu, Jade, Milk Dud, and Chiun. Also, some fooling around by Jade, and yet more fooling around. Just for fun, here are a few of us, relaxing at the central fountain. And a little more fun, here's a different group doing the same thing doing the same. Finally, a bunch of fish heads! Some of the images on this page, or portions thereof are Copyright by Castle Infinity and may not be used out of context. Page maintained by Chiun
If you're looking for newer stuff, go here.
April 30 — The Walt Disney Co., which invested in Internet news and sports information company Starwave Corp. a year ago, said Thursday it has exercised its option to purchase the rest of the company. Since April 1997, Disney had owned roughly a third of Starwave, and billionaire investor Paul Allen — founder of the company and co-founder of Microsoft — had owned the rest.
THE INITIAL investment, for roughly 30 percent of Starwave, was widely estimated to be worth $80 million to $100 million. But Disney, which has been the most aggressive of the major entertainment companies in the online sphere, has not disclosed terms of any of the Starwave transactions.
"The addition of Starwave’s demonstrated talents, expertise and technological resources strengthens our ability to reach more people everywhere through a medium already powerful though still in its infancy," said Michael Eisner, Disney’s chairman and CEO, in a prepared statement.
Disney has operated ABCNEWS.com and ESPN SportsZone in joint ventures with Seattle-based Starwave. The ventures will now become part of Buena Vista Internet Group, which is responsible for Disney’s online operations. Other Internet properties now fully in the Disney fold include Mr. Showbiz, CelebSite, Wall of Sound and the official Web sites for the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, WNBA and Outside magazine.
By combining the operations, Disney hopes to gain some synergies it says couldn’t exist otherwise. "In terms of advertising and sponsorship, this allows us to go to the General Motors and IBMs of the world in a more coordinated fashion," said Jake Winebaum, chairman of Buena Vista Internet Group, in an interview Thursday.
Winebaum and Disney have been more aggressive than most Internet businesses in seeking online sales from sources other than advertising. Its Daily Blast kids service, for instance, charges a monthly subscription fee, and the company has pushed hard to boost online sales of merchandise and theme park accommodations.
Starwave’s Seattle office will serve as the core technology developer for the entire Buena Vista Internet Group, providing technology tools for database management, Web traffic analysis, advertising management and Web publishing systems for all Buena Vista Internet Group sites including Disney.com, Disney’s Daily Blast and ABC.com, Disney said. The Seattle operation also will retain some of the online editorial operations for ABCNEWS, ESPN and the other sites.
Mike Slade, Starwave’s chairman and CEO, will become president of Buena Vista Internet Group. Patrick Naughton, Starwave’s president and chief technology officer, will become the company’s chief technology officer.
Digital Evolution has finally physically received the server computers that make up Castle Infinity. They're still waiting for more information from Starwave. No decision has been made yet about whether they will start up from where things left off, or if they will make changes before they restart it, and what changes and how extensive they're likely to be.
I can certainly understand the problem. There are certainly some changes they're going to have to make, like changing the introductory sequence that so clearly lets us know it's a Starwave product. Coming up with a suitable intro is no trivial thing, even if the technical aspect is not difficult.
And without casting asparagus on their techincal abilities, with the complexity of the code for C8, if they make some of the technical changes the Castle really needs, it's likely those changes will cause unanticipated problems that could significantly delay the start. Again, not because of any lack of talent or ability on their part--remember when we could fall through the floor and how much trouble that caused? (And how much fun? :o)
I think they should bring it up as quickly as possible the way it was. Quite truthfully, I'm torn between starting everybody over again with nothing and zero score, and leaving things as they were. I guess I'm more in favor of keeping our scores and stuff, because where would we ever get jelly racers or ivory grow caps again?
Well, Good Luck to them, and Good Luck to us! See ya in the Castle, Schmassle!
Exerpted from NewsweekExtra, Winter 1997 (published October 1997), page 64, "With a Modem, the More the Merrier":
...Castle Infinity is another one of these social worlds, but smaller and safe for kids. The official object of the game is to find and kill the monsters using ammunition like odoriferous (sic) chunks of cheese and air freshener. But kids, in disguise as cartoonish avatars, often just stand around and chat. "Hi! How old are you?" is a common opener. Inside the castle it's G rated: swear words appear as "flower" in chat balloons and postcards. "We can see exactly what's been written and who said it, says Kate Otey, a game host. "The kids are really good about monitoring each other."
They probably sense that parents are lurking around. California mom Andrea Quitt thinks she logs more hours in the game than her 9-year-old daughter Marissa does. "I like to find body parts and cheese," she says. Her husband, Kevin, is one of the castle's all-time high scorers. As parents, they think that Castle Infinity can be educational as well as fan because it teaches socialization skills and demands that kids work together in order to accomplish certain tasks. In fact, they can't think of anything they dislike about Castle Infinity except maybe for kids playing too long; Marissa once played for six straight hours. Addiction, it seems, isn't just for hard-core gamers.
Jennifer Tanaka
Sorry, still no news on when C8 will be coming up. Presumably, the sale has not been completed as queries to Starwave are not being redirected to a different company. I, for one, can't imagine what could be holding things up. Well, good luck to us all.
Need to rearrange the people in your friends list? Want to eliminate duplicate names? Want the names alphabetized? You need Chiun's C8 Friends List Manager
For those of you who make it this far, here's the Castle's Deepest Darkest, Most Amazing Secret, revealed to the world for the first time, right here. Did you ever wonder about Stella, and who she is, and why there's so much cheese in the Castle? Well, now you know!
Ever wondered how exploration points are calculated? According to Kate, the first room is 1 point, the second room adds 1 point to the bonus for the room, so you get 2 for the room (3 so far), the third room adds 2 points to the bonus for the room, so you get 4 for the room (7 so far). Make sense? Here's a table that summarizes the scoring.
See the Castle Infinity Christmas Tree, courtesy of Heyu, Jade, Milk Dud, and Chiun. Also, some fooling around by Jade, and yet more fooling around. Just for fun, here are a few of us, relaxing at the central fountain. And a little more fun, here's a different group doing the same thing doing the same. Finally, a bunch of fish heads!
Some of the images on this page, or portions thereof are Copyright by Castle Infinity and may not be used out of context.