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In celebration of the service's one-year aniversary, GamerNode recently got the opportunity to sit down and interview PR & Marketing Representative for Good Old Games (GOG.com) Lukasz Kukawski about the service itself, the company's philosophy, publishing partners, the staff's favorite games, and GOG's plans for the future, among other things. GamerNode's Phil Williams (boldface type) does the questioning, and gets some very good answers. Give it a read, because who knows, there may be a chance to WIN 10 FREE GAMES on GOG.com if you make it to the end of the article! *hint*

First of all, congrats on your first birthday, guys! GOG.com seems to have really taken off over the last 12 months. How has it been for you?

Thanks, the last year was really great for us. When we first announced GOG.com just before E3 last year, gamers and gaming journalists went crazy! There were some big expectations before we let in the first users who signed up for the Closed Beta, but it turned out our service and the whole "GOG experience" exceeded those expectations - we've received and we're still receiving lots of emails with positive feedback from our users. After the first ... then came time to work hard and to maintain the interest of gamers with the old games. Thankfully our Business Development secured lots of great deals with publishers and we've managed to revive lots of great titles from the past. With the things to come in the next few months I believe the next 12 months for GOG will be even better :)

One of the biggest draws for using GOG.com is that all the titles are DRM free. Was this always the plan when you were putting the service together? How have publishers reacted to that requirement in the year since launch?

Yes, from the very beginning we knew that we won't have DRM in our games. We're gamers ourselves and we hate all those restrictive copy protection schemes as we believe they're not the best way, in our opinion, to fight piracy. DRMs usually make the life of legitimate customer harder with all those on-line registrations and limited number of installations, and if you download the game from a torrent site, it's already cracked and deprived of the DRM. We believe that the best way to encourage gamers to buy original games is to offer good games, reasonably priced and with some added bonuses which they wouldn't get with the illegal download -- that's what we're trying to do at GOG.com and with The Witcher (we're part of the CD Projekt group of companies that includes CD Projekt RED development studio, the creators of The Witcher).

As for the publishers reactions on our DRM-free approach, they were pretty good. You can see it by the growing number of companies that decided to join the "DRM-free revolution" at GOG :). Of course some publishers are a bit afraid of releasing their games without any copy protection, but we're trying to convince them that the games we're interested in are so old that if someone wanted to pirate them, they've probably already done it. Besides, in most cases publishers aren't doing anything with the old titles, so GOG is a great opportunity for them to monetize their back catalogue.

We have to mention the extras that get bundled with games. Everything from manuals, soundtracks, and avatars, right up to exclusive artwork, screen savers and the like. How hard is it to collate all this stuff? How do you find it all?

The additional materials are a very important thing as it's another incentive that might encourage people to buy a legal copy at GOG rather than download it from abandonware. If we get lucky, we receive the addons from the publisher or developer, but unfortunately in most cases we have to dig through the internet or our own private archives. The older the games the harder it is to find any materials for them, but we do our best to get our users as much bonus stuff as we can.

You have two price points across the whole range -- $5.99 and $9.99. What's the thinking behind that? Are there any plans to add any other price points?

You forgot to mention the third price point: $0.00. We have three games that are completely FREE to everyone who registers on GOG :). But we've chosen the two price points which in our opinion are some sort of compromise between what gamers are willing to pay for older games and how much we and publishers want to sell those games for. That's what I was saying earlier, offering good games for reasonable price. I believe we're doing just that. As for plans for other price points, at the moment there's no reason to add it. Maybe later in the future we'll do something about it, but right now let's leave it like it is.

When you download a game with GOG.com, you get a really nice, easy installer, and none of the hassle that used to be associated with installing games on the PC -- manually assigning IRQs, extended and expanded memory, etc.  It used to be a nightmare. How long does it take to go from the original DOS or Windows files to the end product that goes up online?

Oh man, I remember creating different boot disks on floppies for different games and changing the config files, it really was a nightmare ;). On GOG we're doing everything to make it as easy as buy, download, and play. The time spent on optimizing the games to run flawlessly on modern operating systems depends on the game: it can be a couple of days up to a couple of weeks. Sometimes our programming team just makes some tweaks with the game and sometimes they have to use all of their skill, knowledge, and some black magic to make the titles run on XP or Vista. With DOS-based games we're using the DOSBox software and we have support from the DOSBox team who are really helpful and we appreciate it a lot.

So what's the process for getting a back catalogue on board? How do you decide which titles you're going to take from a publisher?

Basically saying we're going after old games, at least 3 or 4 years old, that were critically acclaimed by gamers and gaming media. But we're also looking for games that went under the radar of gaming journalists, sometimes because of bad marketing or because they were released in the same time as other big titles, but are considered by many gamers as cult games.

When we decide what games we're looking for, our Business Development team starts to search for the rights holders and this can be a real pain in the ass. In many cases the original developer or publisher, who owned the rights to certain titles, was bought by another company or went bankrupt, so it's really time consuming to find the right person who might help us to solve those tricky situations. When we finally contact the owners of the game we send them the agreement and start negotiations which also can take up to couple weeks or even months.

You have some really big publishers on board -- Ubisoft and Codemasters, for example. Does that mean we might eventually see the likes of EA on your service?

Our goal is to make GOG.com the ultimate place for classic PC games and their fans, to achieve that we have to offer the biggest catalogue of classics. We've already secured the deals with the mentioned Ubisoft and Codmasters, but also Interplay, Apogee, Rebellion, Epic, almost 30 publishers. Electronic Arts owns a lot of old IPs that we'd love to release on GOG and I believe it's just a matter of time when we'll offer those great titles to our users.

What are your thoughts on competing game services, like Metaboli (Gametap in the US)? Now that Steam has started offering back catalogues -- sometimes the same titles you offer, like Sacrifice/MDK/Kingpin, from Interplay -- is their higher profile going to eat into your userbase?

The digital distribution market is growing with every year and it's a normal thing that new platforms for digitally downloadable games appear and the competition gets bigger. But right now we're not considering other platforms as direct competition for GOG, because we're focused on old games while others are mainly about new releases. Steam has started releasing some classic PC games, but I think it's just an addition to their whole offer and won't make a bigger impact on our userbase. Every platform has it's unique features and offerings and in my opinion there's no reason we couldn't exist next to each other.

Is there a worry that your users might buy a couple of titles for the nostalgia, then just go back to the latest-greatest-newest games? This industry has, after all, been built on obsolescence as a driver of new sales.

Well, it's a fact, our users buy the old games from GOG as well as the new releases. It's a normal thing, but classic games have that something special that make us gamers to go back and replay them again and again. It's just like with movies and music. I'm a huge fan of old games as these are titles that I grew up on, but that doesn't mean I'm not waiting impatiently for the big hits like Modern Warfare 2 or Gran Turismo 5.

Does the team have any favourite games? Anything you come back to again and again in the lunch hour?

I think the team's favourite are the first two Fallouts, but if we're talking about multiplayer games which we can play all together in the office these have to be Unreal Tournament 2k4 and Duke Nukem 3D. If you haven't played those games, be sure to make it up.

What are the games that you would kill to have available on GOG.com? I'd love to see Elite, Syndicate, and a little known RTS called Baldies; that was awesome :)

I remember Baldies. Haven't played it, but remember reading about it in PC magazines back in the days, it looked like a funnier version of The Settlers. I'm a huge fan of point-and-click adventure games, so I'd love to see the LucasArts and Sierra games on GOG as soon as possible. But there are hundreds of games that deserve to get revived: Baldur's Gate, System Shock, Planescape Torment, or Syndicate you mentioned. We'll do our best to bring those titles back.

What are the plans for the next 12 months and beyond? Can we expect more classic gaming, or do you have any plans to branch out -- perhaps offer games from different formats, or port titles to Mac, for instance?

I can't reveal much as you wouldn't have any surprises then :). All I can say is that we have some big deals coming pretty soon with lots of great classics. Aside of expanding our catalogue of Good Old Games, our dev team is also working on the site update that will bring more cool features to the service itself. There are also some other plans to keep our users entertained as GOG.com isn't just a regular digital distribution outlet, but the best place for classic games fans on the internet. I promise you we'll keep adding lots of cool things, we're just getting started. :)

Thanks, Lukasz!

"Now how do I get my free games?!?!" That's the question on your mind, of course. Well it's easy, simply register on GN and leave a comment below to be entered in a drawing for the 10 free games OF YOUR CHOICE on GOG.com. The winner will be selected randomly, and contacted within one week of the article's posting date. Good luck!

Christos, Gamernode: "What attracted you to space, as a creative medium?"

Tony Gonzales: Space is unconquered. It's a harsh, brutal environment that we've only begun to take our first steps in. One way or the other-be it through scientific intrigue, capitalistic venture, or dire necessity-we will be compelled to cross its vast expanses. Doing so will require a quantum leap in technology-perhaps with breakthroughs that we presently dismiss as fantasy or impossible by today's primitive standards. When you remove those barriers, you end up with a stunning vision of where we could go. But we also expect that humanity itself will remain unchanged. We'll bring all the good, the bad, and the ugly with us to this destination. To us, that makes for an extremely attractive creative medium.

CGN: "When you first conceived the Eve universe, were you inspired by anything in particular, or wanted to create something new?"

TG: The founding crew were huge fans of the game Elite. Between the way the night sky looks in Iceland and the immense enjoyment they took from this game, they were inspired to apply modern computer science technology and artistic direction to the same underlying gameplay activities of space trading and combat. But rather than create a single player experience, the ultimate idea in everyone's mind was to make real people the enablers of these activities by marrying virtual world technology to the internet. People will always be the best source of content for everyone else, so in this sense we knew we could create something new.

CGN: "You're only using one server, which is a big change in the way most MMO titles are approached. Was this for technological reasons, or because (it seems) you wanted one instance of New Eden to serve as the basis for all player-driven storylines and developments within it?"

TG: For people to become the source of content for each other in the game, its architecture has to provide conditions where emergent social behaviour can thrive. That requirement extends far past just providing the tools for players to interact and organize themselves. We wanted a game where one player really could make a difference, and where his or her actions could resonate across the game universe and uniquely claim that success. That's not possible in sharded worlds. In these setups, an entity can rise to prominence but never achieve true "global" dominance because their influence is limited to the instance or shard they exist in. EVE is one world. When an alliance conquers a region of space, it is uniquely theirs.

CGN: "When putting characters from the fiction into the game, and having a large variety of Eve fiction on the website, what was the intention: to present players with a more immersive universe through literature, or something different to this?"

TG: The literature serves two main functions: it describes aspects of the setting that we cannot yet portray in the virtual world, and it engages an audience that is eager for storytelling in a way that exposes them to just how deep the rabbit hole goes when it comes to the actual game. It's very difficult to communicate what the power of the single shard architecture does for gameplay to the uninitiated. On the other hand, immersion is a universal translator. If our audience enters the game world and encounters the NPC's described in the fiction, it is likely they will encounter other players who share the same interests, who in turn can reveal to them the depth of gameplay experience than EVE provides.

CGN: "When the EVE economy reached the point where you required the services of a trained economist, did you feel you'd accomplished something new in the MMO universe?"

TG: Economics is a model of social behaviour, and so we felt as though we had achieved our initial vision of creating a vibrant, emergent, player-run virtual world. Hiring a full time economist was the result of this success and an outright necessity, given the fact that it's very difficult to predict the impact or ripple effect of even minor changes to any aspect of the game in a single-shard architecture. So yes, we did feel as though we created something new, since the depth and sheer volume of interactions between players through the economy modelled the behaviour of people in the real world.

CGN: Thanks for your time, Tony.

One such title is the multi-sensory competitive gaming experience, Darkgame, designed by Eddo Stern. I had the opportunity to talk to Eddo about the game in between gameplay sessions to find out what it is all about.

The interview is below, in high-tech video format for your viewing pleasure:

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Gamernode: Educational games have been around for awhile in Japan and Europe, more recently in the U.S, but to my knowledge the industry has never really seen prep software for a major standardized test on a videogame console, could you explain your new software, what makes it unique, and how it came to be?

Kaplan: At Kaplan, our focus has been on test prep since 1938 and we absolutely recognize that how students learn and how students prepare for exams, such as the SAT, has changed significantly since the days the company was first founded. One of the things we look to do is to try to continue to evolve our courses and really make them as convenient and approachable for students as possible. In addition to our traditional classroom and tutoring programs, which we continue to believe are excellent forms of test prep, we've also looked at new and innovative ways to reach out to students and embrace the technology that is out there and really integrate the test prep more into a teenagers lifestyle. We've worked with Apple on an itunes project, we've worked with manga and comic books, and this is our first foray into the videogame industry, which you know is huge in itself.

I think what's unique about this is this is the first attempt at really combining a fun and innovative game for teenagers with test preparation. It's combining the best of both worlds. Our partner Aspyr has a great track record of making and developing really fun and innovative games and Kaplan is able to bring to the table what it does best, test preparation for the SATs. This is the first attempt on the market to combine that and we really believe that students will find that this is a great tool whether you're just starting the process or already in the thick of things. It's a great complement to what you are already doing.

Gamernode: Do you plan on maybe expanding to a younger audience, maybe people as young as Kindergarteners?

Kaplan: This product is really targeted towards teenagers in high school looking to apply to college. The content is preparation for the SAT. While there are certainly applications for folks who are younger and older and everyone can learn and benefit from it. Ultimately it is targeted at teenagers looking to take the SAT.

Gamernode: In my area, we don't have the SATs, we have the ACTs. Do you plan on expanding the software to include the ACTs?

Kaplan: At this point, the first foray is with the SAT and we are continuing to explore options and absolutely recognize the ACT as it is a very important test in the college admissions process. There have been no decisions yet but it's absolutely up for discussion.

Gamernode: With the exponential growth of the gaming industry and the lack of this kind of software, would you consider this as a potential major revenue stream for Kaplan?

Kaplan: I think it's important for us to develop tools and products that are helpful to students. We think it's additive and are looking to launch towards the end of August and we think it's going to be popular with students and families.

Gamernode: You said it was coming out around late August, have you chosen any distribution methods? Will we see this right next to Mario and Sonic at the Olympics in the aisle, or will it be in its own educational section.

Kaplan: At this stage of the game, there's been no formal announcement yet in terms of how distribution will be set up, that said; we expect it to be distributed in all of the traditional methods.

Gamernode: If someone bought a DS for this piece of software and only played this piece of software, would you call them a gamer?

Kaplan: I qualify myself as an SAT test expert and definitely not a gaming expert so far be it for me to put focus in the same category, that said, our goal here is absolutely to produce a product that provides test prep but also provides a great gaming experience as well. I'll leave it to all of you to qualify if this is gamer worthy.

Gamernode: Good decision. Have you considered including any cameos from famous videogame characters or something along the lines of Kaplan and Rockstar games presents.

Kaplan: Well this is our first foray into it and at this stage no formal plans have been made to combine those efforts but we'll see what happens down the road. No plans for a Rockstar SAT prep.

Gamernode: So we can't expect a Grand Theft SAT?

Kaplan: (laughs) Maybe Grand Theft ACT. We'll see. At this early in the stage a lot is still under development and as it rolls out we'll continue to explore those options.

Gamernode: Now that you're coming into the gaming industry you get to be a part of the insanity of it all. Are you a little scared Jack Thompson might come after this title and call it a murder simulator?

Kaplan: With this particular game we are definitely serving a unique audience and while we absolutely hope to appeal to the gaming community, we recognize this is certainly a niche product and the purpose of the game is going to be for SAT prep. The ultimate audience will be teenagers looking to prep for the SAT, which might be different than areas he may focus on.

Gamernode: You can never be too sure... Speaking of Do you think this game could ultimately assist in the educational development of students?

Kaplan: There is absolutely skills and knowledge that is transferable for all ages and I would say certainly when it comes to the particular age group set that it's going to be most helpful for, the nature of the difficulty of the math and reading comprehension will be more geared toward a highschool audience. The content is the type of content you probably wouldn't learn or encounter until you are in high school, but certainly all ages could benefit from the learning but a 10 year old may not know how to approach an algebra 2 problem. It's open to all ages but it's definitely for a high school audience.

Gamernode: Can we expect to see this software on any other portables or on consoles such as the PS3, 360 and/or Wii?

Kaplan: I think we will absolutely be continuing this discussion but at this point we are focusing on the DS.

Gamernode: Have you worked out any deals with educational facilities such as schools and libraries in order to better reach your audience?

Kaplan: All of those things are absolutely up for discussion right now, but right now we are focusing on developing the best product and the audience will grow from there.

Gamernode: Do you feel that the current educational focus in the United States is benefiting from the rich upper class students who can afford things like study guides, videogames and test prep while the inner-city students receive worse education and have no funds to prepare for college entrance exams?

Kaplan: Our commitment is to absolutely work with lots of schools and try to offer preparation for all students and we offer a wide variety of programs and it's absolutely our commitment to make test preparation as accessible and affordable as possible. Ultimately for us we are never going to turn away a student due to financial need.

Gamernode: Is there anything else you wanted to let people know?

Kaplan: There's going to be a lot more to come in August, but what I can tell you now is that this game is designed to be fun and innovative and be a true game and still help you prepare for the SATs.

In the following pages, Dan talks about The Agency's gameplay mechanics, plot, and art style, as well as the development team's history, PC-PS3 interaction, and his favorite spy flicks. He even reveals his identity as an international secret agent, detailing his next mission to save the world.

Ok, that last bit was a total lie; just read for yourself:

How are you doing today, Dan? How about we get started by letting our readers know just who you are.

I am doing surprisingly well for a crunch week, Eddie. Thanks.

My name is Daniel Myers and I am a producer at the Sony Online Entertainment studio in Seattle, Washington.

So, you and your team at SOE Seattle are working on a little game called The Agency. Can you give us a brief rundown of what the game is all about? What sort of things will players be doing in the game?

The idea behind The Agency is for players to lead the life of an elite agent. If you've ever wanted to be James Bond, Xander Cage, Jason Bourne, or even Austin Powers, then this is the game for you. Join the slick United Nations Intelligence and Tactical Experts (UNITE) or the gritty Paramilitary Global Operations Network (ParaGON) and take on subversive groups all over the world for glory, cash and much, much more.

And what is your personal role in the development of The Agency?

I herd the cats. *laugh* Actually, I oversee several teams working on different aspects of the game. At the moment, that includes weapon systems, skills, and animation. Mostly I keep the teams aware of our top needs and clear any issues that prevent them from focusing on their work.

What other titles have you and the rest of The Agency team worked on in the past?

Now that's a tall order--I don't think you have enough space to print every game the team has worked on. If you had a resume for the studio, you'd see everything from Asheron's Call to Tomb Raider to Halo to Call of Duty 4.

Previous titles I've been involved with are Magic: The Gathering Online and The Matrix Online--I'm also the producer on MxO. Anyone who's been involved in that community might know me by the handle "Walrus".

From your past work, what have you been able to bring to the table and apply to this project?

My past experience is mostly in community management--being the interface between the players and the development team. The most important skill I developed working with game communities is figuring out what the most important player concerns are. Sometimes the loudest folk aren't necessarily the ones stating the critical issues.

Are you a big MMO fan, yourself? What genres are your favorites?

I would say that I am a fan of massively multiplayer online games, although not a hardcore player. I've tried many different games, starting back in 1996 with Meridian 59. I am big on exploration and that is certainly something MMOs tend to offer in spades.

I will pretty much take a look at anything that comes out--it pays to stay informed. And one of the best parts of working for SOE is the stable of games we produce, including non-fantasy MMOs like Star Wars Galaxies, Planetside, The Matrix Online, and Pirates of the Burning Sea. I have played lots of fantasy MMOs and, like many players, I am looking for something to break the mold.

And how about with movies? Are you a big secret agent fan? James Bond, maybe?

Oh, absolutely. I love spy flicks. James Bond is a must, but I have to say Xander Cage is probably my favorite character. There is something about taking the jet-setting elite agent and giving him tattoos and attitude that I really enjoy. That is why I am so excited that we are starting to talk more about ParaGON.

Being that Mr. Bond is considered the epitome of the secret agent, what is your favorite Bond flick and who is the definitive 007 in your opinion?

I don't think there is a definitive 007; more that each actor brought something different to the part. For nostalgia's sake, I have to say Moonraker is my favorite Bond flick--it was the first I saw in a theater. And I am looking forward to seeing how Daniel Craig's character grows in successive movies.

Getting back to the game... It seems that nowadays many MMOs are somewhat cookie-cutter reproductions (or at least approximations) of one another. A few more unique projects are coming through here and there, such as SOE and Flying Labs' recent Pirates of the Burning Sea, but even a game like that still clings to many of the traditional MMO gameplay mechanics. It seems that The Agency may buck that trend - how does it compare to more traditional MMOs in terms of elements like classes, skills, quests, interface, combat, and the like?

The Agency blends traditional first- and third-person shooter combat with a massively-multiplayer online world; essentially, a persistent online shooter. The mission system is probably the most like a traditional MMO, although we are adding replay ability in the form of tiered achievements. For example, finishing the main mission task will earn you a bronze, but finding a number of hidden items during the mission might get you a silver or gold rating.

Combat is more like first- and third-person shooters than traditional MMOs. And since we are releasing on PlayStation 3, we want to keep the interface minimal and easy to use with a controller.

Perhaps farthest away from typical MMOs is our class system--we don't really have one in the traditional sense. In The Agency, you are what you wear. Instead of being locked into a single role, you can choose what to play based on what your team needs or what you feel like doing that day. Want to wade into the thick of combat with guns blazing? Put on your combat specialist gear. Maybe you'd rather sneak your way into a drug lord's hideout... Change into your special operations outfit and you're ready to go. Or maybe your team needs someone to drop turrets to cover their backs as they assault a gang's lair... Then it's time for your support gear to give them some backup.

Each role has a number of specialties for players to investigate and earn experience towards. Some players will focus on being the most elite of a single specialty, but we will always give you the chance to branch out into other fields.

So the differences in play style are meant, in part, to cater to the PS3 audience?

We certainly take the PlayStation 3 into consideration when developing the game. For example, we can't guarantee a player will have a mouse and keyboard, so our UI and communications systems take that into account.

No matter what format a player chooses, we want The Agency to be a shared experience. A PC player and a PS3 player should be able to talk about the world in terms both understand.

Does that mean there will there be direct interaction between the two groups of players - PC and PS3?

We would love there to be interaction between PC and PlayStation 3 players. We haven't determined the feasibility yet, so we haven't made any announcements about whether there will be or not. The deciding factor will be if we can make the game both fun and equitable between the two systems.

I have to ask, because the game has somewhat of a unique art style - what went into the decision to use those particular visuals?

From my perspective, we have put a lot of time into thinking about style, influence, and color for The Agency. For example, both UNITE and ParaGON--along with other major NPC groups--have specific color palettes they draw from. Not only just because it looks good, but it sets mood and tone and makes things easily identifiable to players.

Our non-photorealistic style also lends itself to the lighter side of the spy biz. We are not into reproducing the real world for The Agency--we already live here. We want players to log on, have some intense over-the-top moments, and log off with smiles on their faces.

And when do you suppose we can expect to be playing The Agency?

Sometime in the future. ;)

Thanks. Anything else you'd like to add before I let you go? Some top secret, previously undisclosed information, perhaps? *cheesy smile*

C'mon. You know the deal: I could tell you, but then I'd have to shoot you... ;)

As much as we love talking about The Agency, we are keeping things close as we bring things into full production. Over the next few months we will be shaking a lot of things down and tuning systems for our alpha phase. Trust me; we are too excited about the work we are doing to keep quiet for long!

Thanks again. Can't wait to try out your game!

No problem! Thanks for the opportunity to tell folks what we are up to.

There you have it; I got shot down on the game's release date, and then told that I would have to be shot to get any top secret info, but overall Dan helped all of us to form a clearer picture of what to expect from The Agency when it does arrive on the PC and PlayStation 3 sometime in the future. I am definitely looking forward to this one; it looks like it will be a very unique and fun experience. How about the rest of you?

We spoke with Philips National Training Manager/Philips HDTV Expert, John Morog, about the new line of televisions and asked him a few questions about the new products.

GamerNode: What makes the 7000 FlatTV line of HDTV a good choice for gamers? What are the advantages over other HDTVs from other brands?

Morog: The 7000 series features state-of-art video processing (motion estimation, motion compensation) with a 120 Hz refresh rate. Additionally, the advanced Ambilight feature - available on the 7603 series - captures the colors and action on the screen and provides well-balanced light behind the TV set. This leads to more immerse gaming with colorful, dynamic lighting surrounding the television.

GN: Gamers are generally pretty demanding as far as the graphics of their games. How will the FlatTV line address this need?

Morog: The addition of 120Hz ClearLCD^TM technology in the 7000 series improves the shadow detail and black levels in dark scenes while greatly diminishing motion artifacts. Philips' 120Hz ClearLCD technology provides razor-sharp moving images with an ultra-fast motion response time of two milliseconds. By doubling the picture refresh rate from the standard 60Hz, these sets deliver swift, streak-free action - elevating image quality and clarity.

GN: What sorts of inputs will the FlatTV line have as far as HDMI, component, S-video, audio etc.

Morog: In addition to component and S-video connectivity, the 7000 series offers four HDMI 1.3a inputs with built-in consumer electronics control (CEC) for the cleanest, clearest digital signal.

GN: Any price info yet? Will it be affordable and competitive in pricing?

Morog: MSRPs range from $1,699 to $2,799 on the Philips 7000 series.

Another interesting item that was displayed at CES was the Active Crystals line of headphones especially geared towards women.

GN: Why did Philips decide to make a specific product for women? Are they acknowledging that woman are playing a significant role in listening to music and playing handheld game consoles such as the PSP and DS?

Morog: Consumer insight studies have shown a desire among women to make technology a fashion item. The result is the Active Crystals range which takes everyday technology items such as headphones and storage devices and fuses them into aesthetic design to make them fashionable.