the scoop

the scoop

shakira shakedown

Shakira is joining Madonna, Jay-Z and U2 in forgoing traditional record industry alliances to sign a multimillion-dollar contract with promotion giant Live Nation.

The 10-year deal gives Live Nation the right to handle her concerts, recordings, merchandising and other aspects of her career, according to a statement issued by her publicist. It did not specify when the contract would take effect or the dollar value, but it was estimated to be worth $70 million to $100 million by various music industry sources.

The Colombian singer and songwriter owes three albums to her current label, Epic Records — one in English, one in Spanish and a hits collection.

the big mac chant

McDonald’s USA launched a national casting call this week inviting people to submit a video or audio remix of the popular Big Mac chant on MySpace.com/BigMacChant. The winning remix will be featured in a national McDonald’s Big Mac TV commercial that will air at the end of July. Semi-finalists will be selected by a panel of judges and the winner will be chosen through an online vote by July 22.

Keith Reinhard of DDB Worldwide, and his creative group at Needham Harper & Steers, developed the famous “Two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheese-pickles-onions-on-a-sesameseed-bun” Big Mac jingle in 1974. Now, to continue the celebration of the sandwich’s 40th anniversary, McDonald’s is giving consumers a chance to rediscover the sandwich with a fresh new twist.

game therapy

Since the debut of Nintendo’s Wii a couple of years ago, there have been many stories about retirement homes using the consoles to help keep their residents active. But the Wii isn’t just for old people! With the help of the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation, Nintendo is getting 1,250 Wiis into children’s hospitals across the country.

Starlight CEO Paula Van Ness said the new Fun Centers “transform the hospital experience for children, bringing enjoyment and laughter to an otherwise daunting experience.” Plus, they have therapeutic value for kids who are undergoing physical rehabilitation.

Each of the Fun Centers being installed includes a flat-screen television, a DVD player, a Wii system and a collection of family friendly games like “Super Mario Galaxy” and “Mario Party 8.” (What, no “Resident Evil”?) A previous version of the Fun Center, featuring the GameCube, was distributed to more than 1,000 hospitals.

new video games available now

In stores this week:

Activision is back in the saddle with “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” (Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2), the first installment of the series to focus on a single band.

Not to be out-rocked, Harmonix is also releasing “Rock Band 2” in September, first for the Xbox 360 and later on PlayStation 3 and Wii. ...

Who needs med school when you can play surgeon in Atlus’ “Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2” (DS)?

it’s a blast

Nuclear Armageddon probably strikes most people as a grim subject for a video game. But Todd Howard, executive producer of the forthcoming “Fallout 3,” sees the brighter side of the apocalypse. Citing movies like “I Am Legend,” Howard relishes that “moment of discovery when you see what’s happened to the world and wonder: Who would I be and what would I do?”

That moment happens fairly early in “Fallout 3,” another 100-hour-plus epic from “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion” developer Bethesda Softworks. Your character, born underground decades after a nuclear war, emerges from his shelter into a blasted, decayed landscape that’s oddly beautiful. Your main goal is survival, not just from the radiation but from the mutated creatures that have taken over the surface. But there are also ethical and strategic choices to make. Bethesda acquired the rights to the long-dormant “Fallout” series while it was still working on “Oblivion.”

Part of what drew Howard to the original games (published by Interplay) was their “overall charm,” with the bleak environment balanced by “retro ’50s optimism, the idea that in a nuclear disaster you could just get under your desk.” Oh, and Dogmeat, the loyal pooch, is back.