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Patients needing organ transplants may not need donated organs any more. A kind of ‘instructor’ molecule that tells blood vessel cells to organise themselves in tubes and not in layers could be an important step towards programming stem cells into building new organs instead.

“Our contribution can make it possible to create blood vessels from stem cells and to direct them to form a tube instead of a layer. Perhaps this knowledge can be transferred to the formation of other tube-like structures in the body, such as the lung and intestines,” said Lena Claesson-Welsh, who led the Uppsala University study that came up with this finding.

These results may become very useful. Today stem cells are used to create new cells, organs and even tissues, that in the future might be used to for transplantation instead of donated organs, Welsh added.

If a patient’s own stem cells are used the problem with organ rejection is avoided. But so far there has been a challenge to create three-dimensional structures from stem cells, she said.

Blood vessel cells need to form three-dimensional, tube-like structures that can transport blood. But how do blood vessel cells know they should do that?

An important part of the communication between cells and their environment is the use of proteins that bind to receptors on cell surface that receives the information.

When the receptor in turn forms a complex with other proteins, on the inside of the cell, the read-out from the DNA can be altered. The information has “arrived”.

VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) is a family of closely related growth factors that control blood vessel cells throughout life. Blood vessel development in the foetus as well as later in life, for example during wound healing, is regulated by VEGF.

In the present study the research group has examined how VEGF can instruct blood vessel cells to arrange themselves into a tube. The answer is that some variants of VEGF have the ability to attract another protein, an instructor molecule, which is joined together with VEGF and its receptor.

The combination of instructor molecule, VEGF and receptor results in that a specific signal is sent inside the blood vessel cells, making them form a tube. Without the instructor molecule the cells line up next to each other, in a layer.

These findings were published in the scientific journal Blood.

University of Georgia researchers have discovered that the extent of genes under the control of the biological clock in Neurospora crassa, bread mold, is dramatically higher than previously reported.

While only 16 clock-controlled genes had been discovered in Neurospora in more than 40 years of research, the new study has uncovered a remarkable 295 genes that are influenced by the biological clock.

Jonathan Arnold, a professor in the UGA department of genetics and director of the research project, says that that number could be dramatically higher.

“This new finding may help to explain why the clock is so far-reaching in its effects on the organism. We found that some 25 percent of the genes in our model organism appear to be under clock control. I wasn”t suspecting anything remotely like that,” said Arnold, whose team used a new methodology called Computing Life to yield these discoveries.

Writing about the study in the Public Library of Science One, Arnold said: “It appears the clock influences a number of biological processes, including cell cycling, protein metabolism and varied signalling processes. But perhaps the most important role we”ve seen so far is the clock’’s role in ribosome biogenesis.”

Ribosomes assemble individual amino acids into polypeptide chains by binding a messenger RNA, and then using this as a template to connect the correct sequence of amino acids.

Since ribosome biogenesis is the process of making ribosomes, the researchers said that the knowledge that the process was under clock control added a dramatic new dimension to the clock’’s inherent biological value as an adaptation.

The new Computing Life technology, refined in the Arnold and Schuttler labs, integrates several cycles of modeling and experiments to yield discoveries about a genetic network.

Using Computing Life, the scientists were able to unravel how a network of genes and their products tell time, thereby demonstrating the solution of one of the key problems in systems biology.

“The resulting molecular mechanism or genetic network for the clock identified by this mode-guided discovery process will have a broad appeal to geneticists, physiologists and those with an interest in signalling pathways. The methods used to characterize what makes a biological clock tick will have numerous applications in finding genetic networks describing other complex traits in many biological systems,” said Arnold.

The discovery also had broad implications for understanding biochemical signalling and other regulatory processes in cells, the researcher added.

A U.S. judge has thrown out a copyright infringement case against Veoh Networks Inc, an Internet video start-up with high-profile Hollywood backers, ruling that video-sharing companies are not solely responsible for policing piracy that may take place on their sites.

The California court dismissed a copyright infringement suit by adult entertainment company Io Group Inc against Veoh and granted summary judgment to the defendants. The complaint argued Veoh had not done enough to stop site users of its site from uploading unauthorized clips of ten Io adult sex films.

Judge Howard Lloyd of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found that Veoh worked actively to protect copyright owners and so qualified for “safe harbor” protections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

“The DMCA was intended to facilitate the growth of electronic commerce, not squelch it,” the judge said in siding with Veoh.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) limits liability for Internet service providers that act quickly to block access to pirated online materials, once the copyright holder notifies a Web site of specific acts of infringement.

The ruling draws a line between Napster, the music-sharing service that enabled a wave of music piracy early this decade, and the new crop of video sharing services that take steps to protect against piracy of copyrighted materials.

Io had argued that Veoh should be required to prescreen videos to prevent copyright infringement. “The court finds no reasonable juror could conclude that a comprehensive review of every file would be feasible,” the judge wrote.

The court rejected a technical argument used in many Internet copyright cases in which Io claimed Veoh infringed its copyrights by automatically converting user-submitted videos into easy-to-watch Flash videos, a process called transcoding.

But Lloyd stressed that he does not intend his decision to open the flood gates of Internet video piracy.

“The decision rendered here is confined to the particular combination of facts in this case and is not intended to push the bounds of the safe harbor so wide that less than scrupulous service providers may claim its protection,” Lloyd wrote.

Among other issues with Io’s lawsuit, the judge noted that Io had filed a lawsuit against Veoh instead of first providing the video company with notification of infringement.

Veoh had decided to bar all adult sexual content from its site and taken down the infringing Io videos before the suit was filed, Lloyd noted.

“We are very happy that the judge in this case recognized our compliance with the DMCA and our efforts to respect copyrights,” Veoh spokesman Gaude Lydia Paez said.

The Io-Veoh case featured similar arguments to those used in two high-profile cases against Google Inc unit YouTube, the world’s most popular video sharing site.

Viacom Inc filed a $1 billion lawsuit in 2007 against YouTube calling it a site for “massive intentional copyright infringement” that had enabled hundreds of thousands of Viacom video clips to be pirated. A second suit filed against YouTube by English soccer’s Premier League and more than a dozen sports, entertainment and media plaintiffs is running in parallel in a New York federal court.

YouTube Chief Counsel Zahavah Levine hailed the Veoh ruling in a statement, saying that: “It is great to see the court confirm that the DMCA protects services like YouTube that follow the law and respect copyrights.”

Veoh ranked last week as the 17th most visited U.S. multimedia entertainment site according to Web measurement firm Hitwise Inc. Financial backers include former Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Michael Eisner, former Viacom and MTV Networks CEO Tom Freston, former Viacom Entertainment Group CEO Jonathan Dolgen and investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Google has made several software developers a little richer this week, distributing $3.75 million in prizes for 20 applications designed for its Android mobile phone operating system

Fifty finalists were in the running for the big money after receiving $25,000 each for making the first cut. Google awarded $275,000 to 10 winners, and $100,000 to 10 others. Each of the 10 big winners jumped on the location-aware bandwagon in some way with their applications.

For example, cab4me lets you hail a nearby cab without having to know the number of a local cab company or even your exact address. GoCart turns a scan of a product’s bar code into a comparison-shopping exercise using data from stores nearby your location. And Locale will change the settings on an Android phone depending on the phone’s location, such as automatically setting the phone to vibrate when you enter a movie theater.

Check out the full list of winners over on Google’s Android Developer site. The company plans to distribute the applications through the Android Market, in somewhat-similar fashion to Apple’s App Store.

TiVo Inc. managed consecutive quarters of profitability for the first time ever despite eroding subscriptions, demonstrating that the pioneer in digital video recorders is on track in reducing marketing expenses and subsidies.

Yet Wall Street remained cautious on whether TiVo could keep having solid quarters. TiVo shares fell in extended trading Wednesday after the company said its revenue in the current quarter will fall short of analysts’ expectations.

TiVo’s subscriber base has been dropping steadily because of increased competition from generic recorders from cable and satellite operators and the loss of a key distribution deal with satellite TV provider DirecTV Group Inc.

To offset declining revenue, TiVo has looked to cut subscriber acquisition costs.

The company has reduced or eliminated subsidies on TiVo boxes, particularly with high-definition recorders, thereby generating higher margins on hardware.

It has also partnered with cable operators, content providers and retailers to let them market TiVo “so we’re not reliant totally on our own marketing resources to do that,” TiVo Chief Executive Tom Rogers said in an interview.

Average subscriber acquisition cost was $135 in the fiscal second quarter, which ended July 31, slightly up from $116 in the previous period and significantly lower than the $758 in the year-ago period. TiVo said it now has 3.6 million subscribers, compared with 4.2 million a year ago.

Hardware sales increased 88 percent, contributing to an overall 4 percent gain in revenue to $65.2 million. But the breakout for services and technology, which excludes hardware sales, was $53.5 million — below the nearly $55.4 million analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting and short of the $56.5 million in the same period last year.

Still, the Alviso, Calif.-based company reported $2.9 million in net income, or 3 cents per share. TiVo had posted a loss of $17.7 million, or 18 cents a share, in the same period last year, and analysts had expected a loss of 2 cents per share in the past quarter.

For the six months ending July 31, TiVo had $126 million in revenue, up 2 percent from the same period last year. It posted $6.6 million in net income, or 6 cents per share, compared with a loss of $17 million, or 17 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

The company said its revenue for services and technology will be at $49 million to $51 million in the current quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected $57 million, close to the $58 million posted in the third quarter of 2007. TiVo also said it expected a net loss in the range of $7 million to $9 million in this quarter.

Shares in TiVo dropped 23 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $7.73 in extended trading. Before the earnings report the stock had risen 5.7 percent to close at $7.96.

During a conference call, interim Chief Financial Officer Cal Hoagland said TiVo will face increased expenses in the current quarter, including holiday-related marketing and costs related to an ongoing patent battle with Dish Network Corp. A Sept. 4 court date has been set as TiVo seeks to collect on the $94 million it has been awarded in damages.

Analyst Mark Harding of the Maxim Group said TiVo management typically “has guided below expectation and then decidedly exceeded” it when posting actual results. He said TiVo’s finances look positive, though questions remain on how much marketing TiVo should be expected to do in the holiday season given its pledge to reduce those costs.

TiVo said distribution partner Comcast Corp. has expanded a TiVo package to Connecticut, beyond an initial deployment in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Rogers said full marketing should begin this year, allowing TiVo to boost subscribers while Comcast bears much of the marketing expenses.

Deployment by another cable partner, Cox Communications Inc., should also begin by year’s end, while Seven Media Group has introduced TiVo to the Australian market.

“Over time, the subscriber growth will be much more a function of cable and international distribution deals,” Rogers said.

Meanwhile, the company said it is working with Best Buy Co. stores in six markets to bundle TiVo with new high-definition televisions. And it announced a deal to automatically record shows recommended by Time Warner Inc.’s Entertainment Weekly magazine, similar to one with the Chicago Tribune to record shows recommended by the paper’s TV critics.

The Ifa, Europe’s top consumer electronics show, is normally all about gadgets that make life more entertaining with the latest flat screen televisions, stereo equipment and the like.

But this year the Internationale Funkausstellung, opening in Berlin on Friday, will for the first time see usually more down-to-earth appliances like fridges and washing machines fighting for attention.

According to organisers of the six-day show, which hopes to attract more than 200,000 visitors, the inclusion of white goods reflects what they call a “worldwide trend for more comfort in the home and for healthier eating.”

And in these days of soaring energy bills and growing environmental consciousness about global warming and water resources, they also offer greater efficiency.

In an effort to boost flagging sales, makers of these normally commonplace home appliances have given them an image revamp, with even the humble vacuum cleaner made to look futuristic and exciting at the Ifa.

But it is not all superficial. There have also been changes under the hoods of many of these products, with mechanical controls ripped out to be replaced by high-tech electronics.

There are “intelligent” washing machines on display from Bosch for example that adapt the amount of water used to the weight of what is being washed, while dishwashers make more efficient use of every last drop.

Fridges just keep things cool, you might think. But no, fridges at the Ifa have in-built LCD televisions and send you a shopping list of what you need — by email.

Reinhard Zinkann, head of the family-owned household appliance maker Miele, says the industry is banking on the message of improved efficiency to get Germans to replace their energy-guzzling older machines.

But Zinkann and the industry association he heads have their work cut out in attempting to persuade consumers in a slowing economy to part with their money for appliances they may feel they don’t need.

At present Germans only get new appliances every 15 years on average, and rising prices and weaker economic conditions mean that many households have an ever-dwindling amount of euros available to spend each month.

As Zinkann, who is also head of the German household appliances industry association, admits, “the environment is difficult”.

Germany’s ZVEI industry federation has forecast that growth in the second half of 2008 is likely to be “considerably slower” than the first six months of the year, when the sector was hardly booming either.

Makers of vacuum cleaners and fridges are not the only ones hoping for renewed interest in their products. Organisers of Ifa are also hoping to give a shot in the arm to their show, now more than 80 years old.

Only two years ago, Ifa organisers decided to make it an annual event — it was every two years before.

Ifa, with 1,245 exhibitors from 63 countries — up from 1,212 from 32 nations last year — runs until September 3.

Klausner Technologies, a patent-holding company, is at it again. The New York-based company said late Tuesday that it has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Verizon Wireless, LG Electronics, Google and a long list of others.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Texas said Verizon Wireless’ visual voice mail and LG’s Voyager phone infringe on Klausner’s patent that covers the ability of a user to view and retrieve voice mail via a menu.

“We anticipated Klausner’s action,” Robin Nicol, a Verizon Wireless spokesperson, told us in an interview. “We filed a declaratory judgment action in New York federal court on Aug. 13. We are seeking a declaration that Klausner’s visual voice mail patent is invalid and that Verizon’s system does not infringe the patent in any event.”

Settlements Expected

Citrix Systems Inc., Cox Communications, Comverse Technologies, Embarq Communications, RingCentral, Phone Fusion and Grand Central, purchased in June 2007 by Google, are also named in the lawsuit.

The company is known for its lawsuits against other tech giants for infringement, including AT&T, Apple, Skype, Comcast, Simulscribe and Cablevision. Skype’s Voicemail, Cablevision’s Optimum Voicemail, and Comcast’s Digital Voice all violate Klausner’s IP rights, it says.

Klausner sought $360 million in damages from Apple, claiming the inbox display featuring the ability for a user to retrieve voice mail on the iPhone infringed on Klausner’s patent. The inventor also sought $300 million from each of the other companies listed in the suit.

Time Warner AOL, however, was the first to be sued by Klausner, for $200 million. Since the 2006 lawsuit, AOL has settled and is currently a licensee of Klausner’s patent.

To date, all of the companies have settled accept Cablevision, according to a company spokesperson. Sprint was the only company to proactively license technology from the company and avoid litigation, said the spokesperson.

Judah Klausner, the inventor of the PDA, told Crains New York that inventors need to be compensated for things they invented that are used by others. Already, the company has licensed patents to 11 other companies, and Klausner said the other defendants will probably settle.

A company spokesperson said Klausner could not disclose any additional information. “There is not much more that he can say,” said the spokesperson.

The Inventor

According to a biography filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Judah Klausner received his bachelor’s of arts in philosophy and musicology from New York University. It says he is the inventor and owner of the original patent on the handheld electronic organizer, which he licensed to numerous companies to build and market products.

Companies that licensed with Klausner include Casio Computer, Sharp Electronics, Toshiba Electronics, Sony and Apple Computer.

Klausner Technologies, a patent-holding company, is at it again. The New York-based company said late Tuesday that it has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Verizon Wireless, LG Electronics, Google and a long list of others.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Texas said Verizon Wireless’ visual voice mail and LG’s Voyager phone infringe on Klausner’s patent that covers the ability of a user to view and retrieve voice mail via a menu.

“We anticipated Klausner’s action,” Robin Nicol, a Verizon Wireless spokesperson, told us in an interview. “We filed a declaratory judgment action in New York federal court on Aug. 13. We are seeking a declaration that Klausner’s visual voice mail patent is invalid and that Verizon’s system does not infringe the patent in any event.”

Settlements Expected

Citrix Systems Inc., Cox Communications, Comverse Technologies, Embarq Communications, RingCentral, Phone Fusion and Grand Central, purchased in June 2007 by Google, are also named in the lawsuit.

The company is known for its lawsuits against other tech giants for infringement, including AT&T, Apple, Skype, Comcast, Simulscribe and Cablevision. Skype’s Voicemail, Cablevision’s Optimum Voicemail, and Comcast’s Digital Voice all violate Klausner’s IP rights, it says.

Klausner sought $360 million in damages from Apple, claiming the inbox display featuring the ability for a user to retrieve voice mail on the iPhone infringed on Klausner’s patent. The inventor also sought $300 million from each of the other companies listed in the suit.

Time Warner AOL, however, was the first to be sued by Klausner, for $200 million. Since the 2006 lawsuit, AOL has settled and is currently a licensee of Klausner’s patent.

To date, all of the companies have settled accept Cablevision, according to a company spokesperson. Sprint was the only company to proactively license technology from the company and avoid litigation, said the spokesperson.

Judah Klausner, the inventor of the PDA, told Crains New York that inventors need to be compensated for things they invented that are used by others. Already, the company has licensed patents to 11 other companies, and Klausner said the other defendants will probably settle.

A company spokesperson said Klausner could not disclose any additional information. “There is not much more that he can say,” said the spokesperson.

The Inventor

According to a biography filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Judah Klausner received his bachelor’s of arts in philosophy and musicology from New York University. It says he is the inventor and owner of the original patent on the handheld electronic organizer, which he licensed to numerous companies to build and market products.

Companies that licensed with Klausner include Casio Computer, Sharp Electronics, Toshiba Electronics, Sony and Apple Computer.

Of the three video-game console manufacturers, Microsoft was the first to embrace online gaming, and its Xbox Live has become essential to anyone who wants to play against faraway competitors. Sony and Nintendo are trying to catch up with, respectively, the PlayStation Network and the Virtual Console.

PSN has more momentum. It’s already home to solid multiplayer games like “Warhawk” and “Metal Gear Online,” and future projects like “Home,” “DC Universe Online” and “MAG” (a 256-player war game) promise to stretch Internet-connected play in innovative ways.

Sony also lets you download games directly to your PS3 hard drive. The library isn’t as impressive as Microsoft’s or Nintendo’s, but there are some gems (”Echochrome,” “PixelJunk Monsters“) that you can find only on PSN. Each of the three games reviewed here brings some fresh ideas to the network, and may provide some hints of what’s in store for PlayStation diehards.

_”Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty” (Sony, for the PlayStation 3, $15): At the end of last year’s “Tools of Destruction,” Clank disappeared with a tribe of his fellow robots. As this new chapter begins, Ratchet (the furry half of the duo) discovers that the pirate Captain Darkwater may know where Clank went. Unfortunately, Darkwater is dead, so Ratchet must search for the scurvy seadog’s treasure in hopes of finding a clue.

“Quest for Booty” plays like a stripped-down version of its predecessor, leaving out all the side missions and minigames in favor of straight-ahead action. Even Ratchet’s impressive arsenal of wacky weapons has been scaled back: For much of the game, his only tool is his trusty wrench. There are still plenty of nifty puzzles and running-and-jumping action, though, so things never slow down.

For a project that’s really a stopgap between full-fledged “R&C” adventures, “Quest for Booty” still delivers the brilliant animation and screwball humor we’ve come to expect from the developers at Insomniac Games. It only takes about three hours to finish, but it’s a tasty appetizer until the next main course arrives in 2009. Three stars out of four.

_”PixelJunk Eden” (Sony, for the PlayStation 3, $10): The Kyoto, Japan-based Q-Games has released three very different titles for PSN: the slot-car game “PixelJunk Racers,” the strategy game “PixelJunk Monsters,” and the uncategorizable “PixelJunk Eden,” which looks like no game you’ve ever seen before.

Each level begins in an underpopulated garden with a minuscule hero who can swing and jump from leaf to leaf. When he swings into a “prowler,” it releases pollen, which helps more plants grow. The goal is to grow the plants high enough to reach the prized “Spectra.”

The psychedelic visuals and techno soundtrack give “PixelJunk Eden” a trippy vibe, but its controls take some getting used to and may frustrate casual gamers at first. Also frustrating is a very unforgiving timer, which forces you to rush through levels instead of allowing you to admire your gardening skills. Still, the deeper you get into “Eden,” the more satisfying it becomes, with challenges that cleverly expand upon the minimalist approach of the early levels. Three stars.

_”Siren: Blood Curse” (Sony, for the PlayStation 3, $15 for four episodes, $40 for 12 episodes): In an interesting experiment in episodic gaming, Sony has retooled the overlooked 2004 title “Siren,” chopped it up into a dozen chapters and set them loose on PSN. The graphics aren’t much better then they were are the PlayStation 3, but the developers have tightened up the gameplay and added some American characters.

In the first episode, a U.S. camera crew stumbles across a Japanese village populated by zombies, and you briefly assume the role of a college student who’s trying to escape from an undead cop. In later episodes you see the events in the village through different characters’ eyes — at times, even through the eyes of the zombies themselves.

It’s an effective survival horror adventure, but the episodic structure doesn’t help, mainly because the individual chapters take so long to download and install. Also, the early chapters are very short (about 20 minutes), which may dissuade cost-conscious players from downloading the entire run. I’m hoping Sony takes more chances on episodic games, but next time its developers need to build one from scratch. Two stars.

Of the three video-game console manufacturers, Microsoft was the first to embrace online gaming, and its Xbox Live has become essential to anyone who wants to play against faraway competitors. Sony and Nintendo are trying to catch up with, respectively, the PlayStation Network and the Virtual Console.

PSN has more momentum. It’s already home to solid multiplayer games like “Warhawk” and “Metal Gear Online,” and future projects like “Home,” “DC Universe Online” and “MAG” (a 256-player war game) promise to stretch Internet-connected play in innovative ways.

Sony also lets you download games directly to your PS3 hard drive. The library isn’t as impressive as Microsoft’s or Nintendo’s, but there are some gems (”Echochrome,” “PixelJunk Monsters“) that you can find only on PSN. Each of the three games reviewed here brings some fresh ideas to the network, and may provide some hints of what’s in store for PlayStation diehards.

_”Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty” (Sony, for the PlayStation 3, $15): At the end of last year’s “Tools of Destruction,” Clank disappeared with a tribe of his fellow robots. As this new chapter begins, Ratchet (the furry half of the duo) discovers that the pirate Captain Darkwater may know where Clank went. Unfortunately, Darkwater is dead, so Ratchet must search for the scurvy seadog’s treasure in hopes of finding a clue.

“Quest for Booty” plays like a stripped-down version of its predecessor, leaving out all the side missions and minigames in favor of straight-ahead action. Even Ratchet’s impressive arsenal of wacky weapons has been scaled back: For much of the game, his only tool is his trusty wrench. There are still plenty of nifty puzzles and running-and-jumping action, though, so things never slow down.

For a project that’s really a stopgap between full-fledged “R&C” adventures, “Quest for Booty” still delivers the brilliant animation and screwball humor we’ve come to expect from the developers at Insomniac Games. It only takes about three hours to finish, but it’s a tasty appetizer until the next main course arrives in 2009. Three stars out of four.

_”PixelJunk Eden” (Sony, for the PlayStation 3, $10): The Kyoto, Japan-based Q-Games has released three very different titles for PSN: the slot-car game “PixelJunk Racers,” the strategy game “PixelJunk Monsters,” and the uncategorizable “PixelJunk Eden,” which looks like no game you’ve ever seen before.

Each level begins in an underpopulated garden with a minuscule hero who can swing and jump from leaf to leaf. When he swings into a “prowler,” it releases pollen, which helps more plants grow. The goal is to grow the plants high enough to reach the prized “Spectra.”

The psychedelic visuals and techno soundtrack give “PixelJunk Eden” a trippy vibe, but its controls take some getting used to and may frustrate casual gamers at first. Also frustrating is a very unforgiving timer, which forces you to rush through levels instead of allowing you to admire your gardening skills. Still, the deeper you get into “Eden,” the more satisfying it becomes, with challenges that cleverly expand upon the minimalist approach of the early levels. Three stars.

_”Siren: Blood Curse” (Sony, for the PlayStation 3, $15 for four episodes, $40 for 12 episodes): In an interesting experiment in episodic gaming, Sony has retooled the overlooked 2004 title “Siren,” chopped it up into a dozen chapters and set them loose on PSN. The graphics aren’t much better then they were are the PlayStation 3, but the developers have tightened up the gameplay and added some American characters.

In the first episode, a U.S. camera crew stumbles across a Japanese village populated by zombies, and you briefly assume the role of a college student who’s trying to escape from an undead cop. In later episodes you see the events in the village through different characters’ eyes — at times, even through the eyes of the zombies themselves.

It’s an effective survival horror adventure, but the episodic structure doesn’t help, mainly because the individual chapters take so long to download and install. Also, the early chapters are very short (about 20 minutes), which may dissuade cost-conscious players from downloading the entire run. I’m hoping Sony takes more chances on episodic games, but next time its developers need to build one from scratch. Two stars.