Danny Puff

LOS ANGELES (AP) It's a time of transition for the video game industry.

With last year's launch of the Wii U, the impending arrival of the PlayStation 4 and the likelihood of a new Xbox on the horizon, the next generation of video game consoles is nearly here.

However, more than half of the attendees at this week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco identify themselves as indie developers and their next creations will be for smartphones and tablets. So when it comes to the next generation of consoles, the question on their minds doesn't seem to be "What's next?" but rather "Who cares?"

The schedule for this year's GDC illustrates the dramatic changes that are reshaping the gaming industry, an evolution that's as much about business models as it is about pixels. GDC organizers have added a summit on free-to-play games, plan talks on topics like crowd funding and micro-transactions, and are presenting panels with such titles as "Making Money with Mobile Gaming" and "Why Won't FarmVille Go Away?"

For the past 15 years, the Independent Games Festival has served as the Sundance of GDC, specifically honoring and highlighting the work of indie developers. But the lines have increasingly blurred between the IGF and GDC, the 27-year-old conference that serves as the largest gathering of the gaming industry in the U.S. outside the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

Simon Carless, executive vice president at UBM Tech Game Network, which hosts GDC, IGF and several other technology conferences throughout the year, said 58 percent of developers surveyed by organizers plan to release their next game for tablets and smartphones. That's a big switch from 15 years ago when GDC was known as CGDC the Computer Game Developers Conference.

"I think what we're seeing is that there's many more small developers," said Carless. "For example, 53 percent of developers identify as an indie developer and 46 percent of those surveyed work at companies with 10 employees or less. It's simply a fact that people are more excited by platforms where there's a low barrier for entry."

Sony is angling to reignite developers' enthusiasm with the PlayStation 4.

When the Japanese electronics giant announced the PS4 during a splashy press conference in New York last month, Sony boasted that the successor to the PS3 would essentially be a "supercharged PC," a platform that would make it easier for developers to create and sell games. Sony plans to detail more about the PS4's technology during a Wednesday panel at GDC.

Nintendo will also be on hand with a Wednesday session outlining easier ways for developers to make apps for the Wii U, the touchscreen controller system that kicked off the latest generation of consoles last year but has failed to catch fire the way the original Wii did when it launched in 2006.

Microsoft will likely wait to tease how it plans to succeed its Xbox 360 console and camera-based Kinect system until E3 in June, although the company has scheduled several talks at GDC this week, including how to create games for Windows smartphones and second-screen experiences for Xbox SmartGlass, its companion app that connects mobile devices to Xbox 360s.

Meggan Scavio, general manager of GDC, said 23,000 attendees are expected at this year's conference, which kicked off Monday at the Moscone Convention Center and continues through Friday. While an increasing number of game makers are more interested in creating the next "Minecraft" instead of the next "Call of Duty," Scavio noted that so-called triple-A games continue to have a place at the conference.

"We're still talking about all the really big titles," said Scavio. "We've got talks on 'Dishonored,' 'Borderlands 2' and 'Assassin's Creed III.' Bungie is going to be talking about 'Destiny.' The guys from 'The Walking Dead' game are doing panels. Hideo Kojima is going to be there. It's not indie central yet."

In perhaps the most impressive indication of indie dominance, the artsy PS3 platform game "Journey" is up for the most awards at Wednesday's Game Developers Choice Awards, which honor the best titles of the past year and are selected by a jury of game creators. "Journey" was designed by thatgamecompany, a studio that went indie last year.

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang .

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Online:

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By Euan Rocha

TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry's share price has more than doubled over the last six months as buzz around its new smartphones has boosted investor confidence, but some traders are betting big that talk of a turnaround is over-hyped.

Nasdaq data released on Tuesday shows that short interest in the stock is at record levels and has more than doubled over the course of the last year.

With BlackBerry due to report quarterly results in two days, giving investors their first official clues on demand for its new Z10 touchscreen device, that buildup of bearish bets could send the stock price surging if the company delivers a positive surprise.

BlackBerry, a one-time pioneer in the smartphone market, hopes the device - powered by its new BlackBerry 10 operating system - and other devices soon to follow will turn its fortunes around and help it to win back market share in an ultra-competitive sector. But many traders are clearly unconvinced.

Short interest in BlackBerry's Nasdaq-listed stock has risen to more than 155 million shares, up from 136.5 million shares a month ago and 60 million at this time last year.

Traders who sell securities "short" borrow shares and then sell them in the hope that the price will fall, so they can buy them back more cheaply, return them to the lender and pocket the difference.

Markit, a financial information services company, said in a report last week that positive reviews around the Z10 have thus far failed to impress short sellers, with demand to borrow shares in BlackBerry hovering at record levels.

The firm, which collects data from custodian banks that run lending programs on behalf of investors who sometimes put their holdings into such programs, notes that roughly three-quarters of the BlackBerry shares that can be borrowed are already out on loan, meaning that it would be difficult and expensive to short any more of the company's shares at this time.

The number of short positions indicates that over 30 percent of BlackBerry's free float is currently being shorted, up from about 11 percent at this time last year.

The bearish data comes close on the heels of analysts' and media reports that the Z10 device had a rather muted launch in the United States last week.

SHORT SQUEEZE EYED

BlackBerry is hoping that the Z10 and other new devices powered by its new operating system will help it to regain ground ceded to rivals such as Apple Inc's iPhone, as well as Samsung Electronics Co's Galaxy line and other devices powered by Google Inc's market-leading Android operating system.

BlackBerry's results this week will, however, only provide investors with limited insight on demand for the Z10, which was on sale during just the final month of the latest quarter. And although the Z10 is now available in more than 25 countries, it initially went on sale only in the United Kingdom and Canada.

BlackBerry's volatile stock is nevertheless likely to swing wildly following the results on Thursday, as analysts and investors read into the numbers and extrapolate broader sales trends for the new device across the rest of the globe.

The company's stock, which closed at $14.46 on Tuesday on the Nasdaq, has already dropped roughly 10 percent since Friday after the reports of the Z10's lackluster U.S. launch.

The recent pullback in the stock ahead of results, however, may not be all bad news for those investors hoping for a big turnaround in the company's fortunes, as any positive outlook or data points from the company on Thursday would raise the prospects of a short squeeze in the stock.

In that scenario, bearish traders that sold the stock short would be forced to buy shares to avoid big losses on their positions - something that only serves to work against short sellers and push a stock higher.

Eric Jackson, the founder and managing partner of Ironfire Capital LLC, believes the size of the short position in the stock may serve as a big catalyst for BlackBerry's share price, if the company provides investors with an upbeat forecast.

"Even if they report a so-so quarter ... if they provide robust guidance for the current quarter, that could really light a fire under the stock," said Jackson, whose firm owns shares in BlackBerry.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

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NEW YORK (AP) ABC Family is banking big on its biggest hit "Pretty Little Liars," green-lighting it for another season and approving a spinoff.

The network announced Tuesday it renewed the series starring Lucy Hale and Ashley Benson for a fifth season.

The new show "Ravenswood" will follow five strangers whose lives become intertwined by a deadly curse that has plagued their town for generations.

"Pretty Little Liars" is about teens in the fictional town of Rosewood, Penn., whose best friend was murdered. Since her death they've been continuously harassed via text and pranks by a mysterious figure known as "A." It's based on the best-selling book series by Sara Shepard.

"Ravenswood" is slated to premiere in October.

"Pretty Little Liars" returns for season four in June.

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Online:

http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/pretty-little-liars/

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LOS ANGELES (AP) An attorney says a disabled man was awarded $8,000 by Disneyland after the "It's A Small World" ride broke, stranding him for a half hour while the theme song played continuously.

Lawyer David Geffen says Jose Martinez didn't medically stabilize for three hours after the ride broke down in 2009.

Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said the Anaheim theme park believes it provided appropriate assistance during the incident, and is disappointed that the court did not fully agree.

Geffen says Martinez uses a wheelchair, suffers from panic attacks and high blood pressure, which was aggravated by a need to urinate.

Geffen says half the award ordered Friday is for pain and suffering, and the rest is for a violation of disability law. Brown says the violation has been addressed.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Google has picked out 8,000 people who will be given a chance to don a pair of Internet-connected glasses and make a fashion statement likely to be envied by gadget-loving geeks around the world.

The pool selected by Google won a contest conducted last month requiring U.S. residents to submit 50-word applications through Twitter or Google's Plus to explain how they would use a technology that is being hailed as the next breakthrough in mobile computing.

After sifting through a litany of ideas submitted with the hash tag "ifihadglass," Google Inc. began notifying the winners Tuesday.

Prevailing in this contest might not seem like much of a victory if you aren't a technology fan. The winners will have to pay $1,500 apiece if they want a test version of the product, which is called "Google Glass." They also will have to travel to New York, Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay area to pick up the device, which isn't expected to be available on the mass market until late this year or early next year.

But getting a chance to be among the first to experience Google Glass is being treated like a hallowed privilege among the tech set. Some contestants even likened it to winning one of the five golden tickets that entitled children to a lifetime supply of candy and a visit at Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in the popular movie based on a book by Roald Dahl.

The excitement stems from the belief that Google Glass is at the forefront of a new wave of technology known as "wearable computing." Google, Apple Inc. and several other companies also are working on Internet-connected wristwatches, according to published reports that have cited anonymous people familiar with the projects.

Google Glass is supposed to perform many of the same tasks as smartphones, except the spectacles respond to voice commands instead of fingers touching a display screen. The glasses are equipped with a hidden camera and tiny display screen attached to a rim above the right eye.

The engineers who have been building Google Glass tout the technology as a way to keep people connected to their email, online social networks and other crucial information without having to frequently gaze down at the small screen on a smartphone. The hidden camera is designed to make it easy for people to take hands-free photos or video of whatever they are doing, whether it be bicycling, running, skiing, skydiving or just playing with friends and family.

Some of the winning entrants identified Tuesday by Google caught the company's attention by promising to put the camera to good use.

One contest winner promised to take Google Glass to Veteran Administration hospitals so soldiers who fought in World War II can see their memorials before they die. Another plans to wear Google Glass during a trip to Japan so she can take video and pictures that she can share with her grandmother, who now lives in the U.S. but would like to see her native country again. A zookeeper plans to use Google Glass to show what it's like to feed penguins, and another contest winner wants to use the technology to provide maps that will help firefighters in emergencies.

Privacy watchdogs, though, are already worried that Google Glass will make it even more difficult for people to know when they are on camera.

Google said the test, or "Explorer," version of Glass will help its engineers get a better understanding of how the technology might be used and make any necessary adjustments before the device hits the mass market.

The company, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., also sold an unspecified number of "Explorer" models to computer programmers last year. The finished product is expected to cost from $700 to $1,500.

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SEATTLE (AP) Amanda Knox's memoir and interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer will go on as planned, despite an Italian court overturning her 2011 murder acquittal.

Italy's highest criminal court ordered a new trial for Knox and former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito on Tuesday, overturning their acquittals in the gruesome slaying of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher.

Spokesman David Ford says an ABC News Primetime Special scheduled to air April 30 is moving forward as planned. It will be the first in-depth interview Knox has given since returning to Seattle.

Knox also has a memoir, "Waiting to Be Heard," due out on the same day as her television interview. Based on pre-orders, the book's ranking on Amazon.com moved from just above 2,400 Tuesday morning to 470 Tuesday afternoon.

HarperCollins spokeswoman Tina Andreadis says the book plans have not changed.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Eric Burdon, the singer of the 1960s blues-rock band The Animals, is writing a memoir detailing his five decades in the music industry, publisher Alfred Music said on Tuesday.

The book, entitled "Breathless," will be released late this year, the publisher said.

Burdon, 71, best known for merging U.S. blues music with 1960s British rock and roll, said the book will be a way for him to recall and recount the many details of his musical life.

"I'm writing this book to help myself remember the past, acknowledge the present and help the new generation to discover their own truth," Burdon said in a statement.

Burdon and The Animals rose to prominence and scored a No. 1 hit with his menacing and intense singing on "The House of the Rising Sun" in 1964, turning it into a definitive rendition of the American folk song.

The Animals, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, broke up in 1968 after five years together and reformed at times in the 1970s and 1980s. Burdon helped found the U.S. funk band War in 1969.

His latest solo album "'Til Your River Runs Dry" was released in January and was his first album of new material since 2006.

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and David Brunnstrom)

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop sensation Justin Bieber flew from Europe back to his Los Angeles area home on Tuesday and into an argument with one of his neighbors - the latest in a series of odd incidents involving the teen singer.

Deputies were called to the 19-year-old's house in Calabasas, California, on Tuesday morning after a neighbor claimed that he had been threatened and struck by Bieber, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

A police report alleging battery and threats by Bieber had been filed and was being investigated, Whitmore said. No charges have been filed against the Canadian pop star and Whitmore declined to give details, citing an ongoing investigation.

Under California law, a misdemeanor battery charge can include unwanted touching or spitting.

The alleged altercation took place after the "Boyfriend" singer flew overnight from Poland, startling photographers and Lodz airport officials by stripping off his shirt on a freezing evening as he walked through security and to his private jet.

Bieber's publicist did not return calls for comment on Tuesday's incident, which follows odd behavior by the singer during his European tour, including turning up late for a London concert and wearing a gas mask on a night out.

A source close to the star said the Calabasas dispute stemmed from a neighbor who came by to complain about parties at the house while Bieber was away. Words were exchanged but no physical altercation took place, the source said, citing the singer's security detail.

Celebrity website TMZ.com said the dispute was provoked by Bieber driving a newly delivered Ferrari up and down the street at high speed early on Tuesday morning. The Bieber source disagreed with that claim.

Bieber has been playing concerts around Europe for his "Believe" tour for several weeks, and his next concert is scheduled for Munich, Germany, on March 28.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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NEW YORK (AP) From a bank of chairs in an NBC Universal control room, technician Antonella Caruso counted down as if she were anticipating a rocket booster's liftoff: "Nine, eight, seven, six ..."

It was a dress rehearsal for USA's plan to let viewers of "Psych" choose the ending of Wednesday's episode, celebrating the drama's 100th episode and culminating the network's two-year experiment at an exclusively fan-centered approach at marketing.

In the episode, Shawn (actor James Roday) and Gus (Dule Hill) try to solve a murder at a party hosted by an old rock star in a California mansion. There are five suspects: the groupie, the manager, the author, the host and, of course, the butler. During the show, the suspects are narrowed down to three and viewers are asked to vote on social media who they thought committed the crime. Three endings were filmed, each lasting three minutes, and the top vote-getter will be used.

The episode salutes the 1985 film "Clue" and features that film's actors Christopher Lloyd, Lesley Ann Warren and Martin Mull, along with guest shots from Garrett Morris and Curt Smith of Tears For Fears.

Depending on where you live, you could see a different ending. USA is conducting separate votes for the East and West coast airings of the show. (Viewers in other time zones will see the Eastern version at 10 p.m. Eastern.) They estimate tabulating 190,000 to 250,000 votes.

Viewer-selected endings aren't necessarily unique (CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" did one this year), but here fans will be updated a handful of times during the show on how the vote is going. That's where Caruso's practice came in; she was counting down to an insert of a vote tally.

"Psych" is in its seventh season, a point at which most shows are considered "mature" and are losing viewers, but it does have a relatively young, devoted audience and is USA's third most-popular original show behind "Burn Notice" and "Suits." Instead of running general advertisements encouraging viewership when its sixth season started last year, USA sought to engage fans through social media and activities, said Alexandra Shapiro, USA's executive vice president of marketing and digital.

"It's great to be loved," Shapiro said. "But you have to love back."

USA set up online games for "Psych" fans to play, with real and virtual prizes. Particularly high-scoring fans even become part of the game. There was a fan appreciation day, with some invited to meet the cast. USA encouraged social media interaction with stars and others involved with the show. A "slumber party" of viewer-chosen shows that aired from midnight to 6 a.m. on a Saturday in February resulted in some 157,000 mentions on Twitter.

One goal is to make live viewing of new episodes an event, Shapiro said. DVR viewing is fine, but networks still reliably make more money when there is a strong audience for original airings.

So far, so good. The February debut of the seventh season saw stronger ratings than the sixth season opener in 2012, with a 22 percent increase in the desirable young audience of viewers aged 18-to-34, the Nielsen company said.

"Our job is so much harder than it was 10 years ago or even five years ago," Shapiro said. "We used to be content messengers. Now you have to be content creators. You as a marketer have to create compelling content that a fan is going to engage with."

It's not necessarily an approach that works with every show, she said. But it could be a template for some with similar audiences.

For this week, the chief concern is compiling the fans' votes, and making sure technicians in New Jersey charged with making sure the correct ending of Wednesday's episode is inserted.

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EDITOR'S NOTE David Bauder can be reached at dbauder(at)ap.org or on Twitter (at)dbauder.

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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Singer Dionne Warwick claims in a recent bankruptcy filing that she owes nearly $10 million in back taxes and her monthly expenses exceed $20,000.

The South Orange resident and singer of classics such as "Walk On By," ''I Say a Little Prayer" and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" filed a Chapter 7 petition in U.S. bankruptcy court in New Jersey last Thursday.

In the filing, the 72-year-old Warwick listed liabilities that include nearly $7 million owed to the Internal Revenue Service for the years 1991 to 1999 and more than $3 million in business taxes owed to the state of California.

Warwick, a cousin of the late Whitney Houston, also listed $20,950 in monthly income from royalties, retirement income and a contract with Culver City, Calif.-based Star Girl Productions. Her monthly expenses total $20,940 and include $5,000 for housekeeping/housesitting.

Warwick's publicist said that the singer was victimized by bad financial management in the 1990s and that she has paid back the actual amount of the taxes, but penalties and interest have accumulated over the years.

"In light of the magnitude of her tax liabilities, (Dionne) Warwick has repeatedly attempted to offer re-payment plans and proposals to the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board for taxes owed," Kevin Sasaki said in an email Tuesday. "These plans were not accepted, resulting in escalating interest and penalties. Although the actual amount of back taxes owed has been paid, the resulting penalties and interest has continually accrued."

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