By: Dale Dietrich
The popular Skype voice and instant-messaging protocol, which allows for free Internet-based telephony, will be made open to developers of other software, the company has announced. Currently requiring the use of Skype’s own client, the company will offer APIs to integrate the service into other software, including potential use in online video games
Source: Gamasutra
In a bid to curb online gaming addiction, Chinese government officials have unveiled new plans to discourage users from playing online games for more than three consecutive hours.
Sources: Gamasutra | Interfax China | GameDaily.biz | GameIndustry.biz | The Console Wars
Dale’s Comment: This is a surprising development given that such console skins are common in the industry (witness the XBox 360 skins to the left)
Sources: ipFrontline.com
A man has been arrested in Japan on suspicion of carrying out a virtual mugging spree by using software “bots” (a form of cheating) to beat up and rob characters in the online computer game Lineage II. The stolen virtual possessions were then exchanged for real cash.
Sources: New Scientist | Gamespot | The Enquirer | BBC | CNet | GamePolitics | Ferrago
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This article discusses the value that agents can bring to mid-sized developers when negotiating development deals with publishers.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
A number of World of Warcraft players are up in arms over software being used by the game’s publisher to scan users’ computers for hacks prohibited under its terms of service.
Sources: CNet | ZDNet | P2PNet | Blizzard’s Response
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Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto San Andreas has been pulled from shelves in Australia after the increasingly censorious Office of Film and Literature Classification withdrew its rating in the wake of the Hot Coffee scandal.
Source: GameIndustry.biz | Gamasutra
New York Investigation:
LA Civil Suit:
FTC Investigation Related Posts:
Stanhouse Class Action Suit:
Cohen Class Action Suit:
Other Hot Coffee Related Posts:
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted 355 to 21 to support a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) inquiry into Take-Two Interactive/Rockstar Games, with the intention of discovering whether the company and its subsidiary attempted to deceive the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) over the sexual content of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to avoid an ‘Adults Only’ rating.
Sources: Gamasutra | GameIndustry.biz | The Register | 1Up.com | MSNBC | Gamespot | Yahoo! Games
New York Investigation:
LA Civil Suit:
FTC Investigation Related Posts:
Stanhouse Class Action Suit:
Cohen Class Action Suit:
Other Hot Coffee Related Posts:
In the wake of the ‘hot coffee’ controversy, the ESRB slaps dreaded rating on controversial best seller. Take-Two lowers guidance; Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target pull game from shelves.
Sources: Gamespot | Gamasutra | CNN Money | Gamespot | PC Magazine | Joystiq | IGN.com | Forbes
New York Investigation:
LA Civil Suit:
FTC Investigation Related Posts:
Stanhouse Class Action Suit:
Cohen Class Action Suit:
Other Hot Coffee Related Posts:
The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association, the Japanese counterpart to the ESRB, has announced a voluntary program to prevent the sale of games rated 18 to minors. The program is seen partially as a preemptive move to cancel possible governmental restrictions in the wake of Kanagawa prefecture’s labeling of Grand Theft Auto III as banned to minors under the legislature.
Sources: Gamasutra | Gamespot | Gamespot (earlier June 27 story)
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Cheat unlocks preexisting code in controversy-rocked Grand Theft Auto game, undermining Rockstar Games’ claims of hacker mischief.
Source: Gamespot
New York Investigation:
LA Civil Suit:
FTC Investigation Related Posts:
Stanhouse Class Action Suit:
Cohen Class Action Suit:
Other Hot Coffee Related Posts:
Handheld Games seeks $75,000 in damages saying that neither the promised Gizmondo development kits nor the final master license agreement ever arrived.
Source: Gamasutra | GameIndustry.biz | TVG | Ferrago
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Officials from the Japanese prefecture (an organisation of local government roughly equivalent to a U.S. state) of Kanagawa have banned stores from selling or renting the game Grand Theft Auto III to anyone under the age of 18.
Sources: Gamasutra | Capcom’s June 8 Response
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Under the new Manitoba law, a retailer who sells or rents a video game marked Adults Only to anyone under 18 can be hit with a fine of $5,000. Games marked Mature, such as the Grand Theft Auto titles, will not be available to anyone under 17.
Sources: CTV | Fradical.com | Manitoba Press Release
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According to Bangladeshi news reports, government officials in the country are threatening to serve Sony with a lawsuit, after the company described Bangladesh as a ‘terrorist state’ in the forthcoming game SOCOM 3.
Sources: Gamasutra | EuroGamer | GameIndustry.biz | Ferrago | GameSpot
The Australian distributor of Midway’s lurid ’80s arcade game remake NARC has announced that the console game has been refused classification by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification.
Sources: gamasutra.com | GameIndustry.biz
The British government has announced that, after consultation with industry representatives, video games are to carry larger age symbols and descriptions of their content in “a bid to help parents understand what their children are playing”.
Source: Gamasutra
Blizzard has taken action against over 1,000 World of Warcraft accounts, instituting permanent bans for violating the game’s terms of service.
Sources: Gamasutra  | GameIndustry.biz
On March 7, 2005, the Ontario Film Review Board adopted the ESRB classifications. As a result it is now an offence to sell, rent or publicly exhibit video and computer games classified as “Mature” or “Adults Only” to persons apparently under the age of 18 years. If convicted, individuals may face up to $25,000 in fines or imprisonment for a term of not more than one year or both. Corporations are liable for fines up to $100,000.
Sources: GamePolitics.com | Fradical.com | Ontario Film Review Board Press Release
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The Entertainment Software Ratings Board, an industry-run group designed to provide parents with clear information so that they can choose the most appropriate computer and video games, has added a new classifier to their ratings system. The E10+ rating will serve as a halfway point between the E (Everyone) and T (Teen) ratings.
Source: Gamasutra
Square Enix, maker of the PS2 and PC MMORPG Final Fantasy XI game banned players for who have violated the PlayOnline Member Agreement for, among other things, “monopolizing monsters” – ie: the practice of large, high-level parties camping at points where particular rare items appear, blocking others’ attempts to obtain such items and thereby controlling prices for such items within ingame auction houses.
Among other incentives, Emploi-Québec is contributing $6.3 million (USD $5.3 million) in financial assistance for the first three years of Ubisoft’s expansion program, as part of Ubisoft’s accelerated job creation plan.
Sources: Gamasutra | GameIndustry.biz
Both the characters and accounts of offending sellers will be deleted, and Blizzard may go so far as to take legal action against the vendors.
Source: Gamasutra
