Gamertell

If you’ve been keeping up with video games in politics, you may or may not already know about HB1423, a bill being proposed in Massachusetts that would block the sale of violent games to minors. While there has been much debate amongst politicians since its introduction, best-selling author Stephen King cast his own personal vote on the matter in his latest Entertainment Weekly column.

King, who prefaced the article by stating that he was not a fan of video games at all, went on to blast the Massachusetts legislature, noting the hypocrisy of the…

MORE »

Antonio Hernandez, a World of Warcraft (WOW) player and former assistant manager at an Orlando-based gaming store, is suing Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), one of the largest online gaming service companies in the world. Hernandez intends to have IGE banned from selling WOW currency for real money, due to the negative effects real money trading has on the in-game experience and server economies.

What sets this case apart from others is that Hernandez is challenging the issue as a player and not as…

MORE »

It was recently announced that Puzzle Quest, the popular RPG-puzzle game hybrid, is to receive an expansion through Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). The game, temporarily titled “Puzzle Quest 1.5,” features new four professions that include Bard, Rogue, Ranger and Warlock, as well as a plethora of additional spells, skills and items. The expansion will also introduce a new villain, Antharg, Lord of the Plague.

In an outreach to fans, Puzzle Quest developer Infinite Interactive and publisher D3 Publisher scanned dozens of fan-submitted titles to find the winning entry that would…

MORE »

Those interested in developing the next big thing for the music gaming genre need look no further than the Guitar Hero series for a lesson in monumental success. According to GameDaily, the series has already raked in over $1 billion for the series publisher, Activision, and in a record time of 26 months. The series has sold more than 14 million copies in North America since the release of the original Guitar Hero title in fall of 2005.

MORE »

Halo 3 may have taken the cake for best-selling game of 2007, but the FPS fans are speaking their minds; Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (CoD4) has overtaken Bungie’s third Halo installment as the most-played title on Xbox Live. Major Nelson indicates that for the week of January 14, 2008, CoD4 has trumped Halo 3 for unique online users on the Xbox 360. While CoD4 and Halo 3 take the top two spots, Guitar Hero III nips at their heels, which is rather surprising considering Rock Band‘s infinitely more replayable multiplayer modes. Shredders must really love (or hate) “Through the Fire and the Flames.”

MORE »

Gamers who have never experienced Rockstar’s Bully will be given a second chance for this generation’s consoles, as 1UP recently reported that Rockstar will be porting the third-person simulator to the Xbox 360 and Wii consoles later this year (2008).

According to a 1UP preview, Bully: Scholarship Edition will sport improved graphics, additional content and in the case of the Wii, a different control scheme. Although graphical improvements are to be expected given that the original Bully was released for the PS2, Rockstar indicated that they do not intend to place unnecessary emphasis on the Wii’s motion control capabilities that ports (both good and bad) are notorious for, opting to use primarily analog and button controls.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Rockstar at the helm if they didn’t allow players to simulate fist fights with motion controls, which was demonstrated in a fight tutorial. Also exclusive to the updated port is a…

MORE »

Many people would be inclined to think that video games have a negative effect on job performance in most professions, especially one as rigorous as a surgeon. However, NewScientist reports that Kanav Kahol and Marshall Smith of Phoenix, Arizona’s Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center found the opposite when it comes to Nintendo’s Wii.

Trainee doctors were given an hour to play games on the Wii console before performing a simulated surgery using the training tool ProMIS, which tracks the user’s movements and other information. Trainees who played the Wii prior to the simulation performed 48% higher on performance than those who did not.

The overall increase in performance was noted but the type of game that was played also determined to affect efficiency. Games that required small, precise movements such as Marble Mania had a much more positive effect than a games that required large, sweeping motions such as Wii Sports‘ Tennis. Software is now being developed for the Wii in order to accurately simulate surgical procedures. The development of such software would come as a great boon to surgeons, especially in less developed areas of the world, as traditional training tools often cost much more than Nintendo’s system.

It is interesting to see the immense flexibility of the Wii in areas other than entertainment. After all, professional bowlers have praised Wii Sports for realistic physics in the past and the upcoming Wii Fit will likely be a welcome addition in any Wii owner’s library. It seemed like only a matter of time before surgeons began contemplating taking advantage of the Wii, considering the highly praised surgical simulation series Trauma Center. There’s only one real problem though: the surgeons still have to find the Wii before they can use it.

Read [ NewScientist ] Read [Wired]

Square Enix recently won a case against Fantom, a company that produces Korean music videos, regarding a music video that was found to have plagiarized a scene from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (Advent Children).

The music video, which was created by Fantom for Ivy’s Temptation Sonata, was found to have borrowed heavily from Advent Children‘s fight scene between Tifa and Loz in Aerith’s church. The Fantom company was fined 10 million won (approximately $10,900) and additional fines of 6 million won (approximately $6,500) each to the director of the company and the director of the actual music video.

According to a press release statement by Yasuhiko Hasegawa, General Counsel of Square Enix , the fines represent much harsher punishments when compared to other cases involving copyright infringement in South Korea. Hasegawa went on to say that Square Enix would continue to fight adamantly in order to protect its intellectual properties, especially considering that Final Fantasy is one of its most popular and profitable series on an international scale.

Although Square Enix was certainly within its rights to press the matter legally, it leaves several negative impressions that the company is not interested in individuals expressing their fandom creatively. Certainly, the fines will likely dissuade future ideas of explicitly ripping off a scene from a Square Enix product, but it will also likely leave a foul taste in some fans’ mouths considering that the music video served a secondary purpose as unpaid advertising.

The video is made and is easily available on the internet, and permanence such as that will outlive any negative repercussions that this lawsuit may have on Square Enix ’s reputation. Something about that just doesn’t seem fair, especially when you throw in that 22 million won.

Read [ Hollywood Reporter ] Via [ Joystiq ]

Nintendo’s game plan always has seemed to try and incorporate as many people as it could in its gaming family with the DS and especially with the Wii.

Wii Sports set the bar for casual gaming goodness as a pack-in with the Wii system, supplemented by Wii Play and its Wii remote bundle. Wii Fit sought to emulate this success with Nintendo’s new balance board released in Japan on December 1, 2007. It comes as no surprise that it was met with immediate success.

What does come as a surprise is the fact that it missed the top spot of the sales charts, losing to Professor Layton and the Devil’s Box, an adventure puzzle game developed by Level-5. According to the Japanese software charts listed on GameIndustry.biz, Wii Fit sold approximately 250,000 units during the week while Devil’s Box pulled by with 300,000 units, a significant 50,000 unit lead.

The list also shows that Assassin’s Creed also made its debut at the #8 spot for the Xbox 360, a very surprising feat considering the poor sales of the system in Japan. The Dragon Quest IV DS remake also remains high on the list during its second week, which is to be expected considering its immense popularity in Japan. Hopefully the success of the remake will encourage Square Enix to send it over to western shores. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is good, but I think Pokémon Diamond & Pearl already gave my DS a big enough dose of “catching and battling” this year.

Read [ GameIndustryBiz ] Via [ 1UP ]

Xbox 360 fans can heave a big sigh of relief. Bungie, developer of the Halo series, told Eurogamer that it intends to continue producing titles exclusively for the Xbox 360.

Jonty Barnes, Bungie’s Executive Producer, said that Bungie hopes to maintain a strong relationship with Microsoft and that it has no plans to develop for other platforms at this time, though it is a possibility in the future. The interview also indicates that Bungie has no current plans for Xbox Live Arcade and that efforts will be focused primarily on completing its existing Halo properties and hopefully moving on to new efforts.

Bungie is a developer that seemed to enjoy near overnight success with the release of Halo: Combat Evolved. Sporting a spectacular visual atmosphere, varied musical soundtrack and slick controls that warranted seamless multiplayer competition, it was an instant classic and sent Bungie spinning into the spotlight of gaming development. Halo 2 and Halo 3 have only further intensified positive sentiments among fans, sparking a rich community and making “Xbox” a brand recognizable in many households, even in those typically uninterested in video gaming.

One of the biggest concerns of die-hard Xbox fans since Bungie claimed its independence from Microsoft has been whether or not a potential strained relationship between the two giants would result in a redirection of quality Bungie products to other systems. Thankfully, it would seem that this is far from being the case. The future looks bright for Xbox 360 owners, but let’s hope that Bungie’s new properties come soon, lest oversaturation of Halo lead to regrettable mediocrity. I’m looking at you, Medal of Honor.

Read [ Eurogamer ] Via [ GamesIndustry Biz ]