Woooo doggy! My employer, Turner Broadcasting, took the wraps off a project which has been in the works for around two years, the broadband gaming service dubbed GameTap. Following the model which has created robust businesses from archival content like Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies, GameTap will be a subscription service allowing users to play hundreds or even thousands of game titles, going all the way back to early arcade classics. Reuters has this quote from my coworker Blake Lewin who created this product:

“We have a brand new network … but Turner’s in the same business it’s always been…We want to program games as if they were TV shows.”

The service will leverage the same infrastructure built by the team I’ve been working with here for years – serving CNN.com, SI.com and NASCAR.com.

In a world where new game titles are often known years in advance of their release, this skunk works project has been in development for over two years, with nary a leak, despite a team of more than 100 members.

Coverage around the web today:
Gametap’s Press Release is here.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution (registration req.)
Gizmodo has a brief as well.
PaidContent.org brief here.
Reuters story on the announcement
Kenny Bunch Programming Tidbits roundup.
Jesse Warden’s Blog sorta gets it.
New York Post coverage.
Hollywood Reporter coverage.
Red Herring report here.