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SOPA Shelved Once Again After PIPA is Postponed

Stop SOPA
January 20, 2012 By In 3DS, Android, Apple, DS, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac, Microsoft, News, Nintendo, PC, Playstation 1, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, S1 and S2, Sony, Vita, Wii, Wii U, WP7, Xbox 360, Xperia Play

In the same day that the Protect IP Act (PIPA) was postponed, Rep. Lamar Smith has decided to once again shelve the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). This is the second time Smith has decided to shelve the highly unpopular bill.

Smith has responded to his latest actions with the bill, saying that he had taken the criticism of SOPA and admitted that the fight against piracy needs to be rethought.

With blackout protests across the internet and PIPA being postponed, it is becoming clearer that SOPA may not have much of a future. But with filesharing site Megaupload being pulled yesterday without either legislation being passed, it is also becoming clear that those protesting SOPA must not back down.

Source: Destructoid

Hudson to be Fully Absorbed by Konami on March 1st

Hudson
January 20, 2012 By In 3DS, Android, Apple, DS, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac, Microsoft, News, Nintendo, PC, Playstation 1, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Sony, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360

Konami Digital Entertainment is preparing to fully absorb Japanese developer Hudson on March 1st, according to a notice issued by the company. Board members from Konami agreed to the change on January 12.

While a report Japanese filing discovered by Andriasang seems to suggest that Hudson is essentially no more, the somewhat familiar brand may live on through Konami. This means consumers will not see much of a change despite the company being wholly absorbed.

Source: ShackNews

Sony: Playstation Vita Sells 500k Units

playstation_logo
January 10, 2012 By In News, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Sony, Vita

During Sony’s Press Conference at CES 2012, Sony Executive Deputy President Kaz Hirai revealed that the new Playstation portable system has sold 500,000 units as of January 5th.

Kaz Hirai also reported that 6.5 million Playstation brand devices were sold during the Holiday 2011 shopping season. The Playstation products that Mr. Hirai highlighted were Playstation 3, Playstation 2, PSP, and Vita.

 

GamePro Magazine Discontinued

GamePro-Logo-300x116
December 1, 2011 By In 3DS, DS, iPhone, iPod, Microsoft, News, Nintendo, PC, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360

Both print and online sections of long-running gaming publication closing down; website to become part of PCWorld.com.

Veteran gaming publication GamePro has announced it will be closing both its print and online editions as of December 5, with the November issue to be the magazine’s last.

The publication announced the news via its website with the following statement:

“Thank you for your loyalty, support, and participation in the GamePro.com community. At noon on December 5, 2011, the U.S. version of GamePro online will shut down as an independent site. GamePro will become part of PCWorld.com, offering gaming news, reviews, and how-tos from the PCWorld team. Thank you to the entire GamePro staff for their hard work and dedication.”

GamePro is a subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG). The magazine first launched as a monthly publication in May 1989, and as an online outlet in 1996. An IDG spokesperson told Industry Gamers that the closure of GamePro came as a result of a lack of advertising money, and resulted in a spate of staff layoffs. The spokesperson declined to comment on how many employees had been let go.

“The US editorial and business staff worked hard to earn a passionate, loyal following for GamePro and I am grateful for their dedication and hard work over the years,” Mike Kisseberth, head of IDG’s Consumer and Small Business media group, told Industry Gamers. “GamePro, like all businesses, must keep up with industry changes and economic realities.”

According to Industry Gamers, GamePro will now work on creating “custom content for vendors and events,” with the remaining editorial team being absorbed into PCWorld.com, also owned by IDG.

At its height, GamePro was such a recognizable brand with gamers that it received its own line of action figures, where toys of pseudonymous editors like Dr. Zombie and Major Mike were sold alongside game characters like The Legend of Zelda’s Link and Sonic the Hedgehog.

While GamePro is folding, it did survive its primary print rival for much of its run,Electronic Gaming Monthly. That publication shut its doors in 2009, just shy of its 20-year anniversary.

Supreme Court Rules Against California Violent Games Law

court-gavel
June 27, 2011 By In 3DS, DS, Microsoft, News, Nintendo, PC, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360

After 6 years the The Supreme Court of the United States has sided with the videogames industry, declaring it the victor in the Brown vs EMA trial.

The case argued over the constitutional rights of a law which opposed the sale of violent games to minors and could fine retailers up to $1,000 for each violation. The court rendered the verdict in a 7-2 ruling.

The court documents found here state that “Video games qualify for First Amendment protection. Like pro-tected books, plays, and movies, they communicate ideas through fa-miliar literary devices and features distinctive to the medium. And “the basic principles of freedom of speech . . . do not vary” with a new and different communication medium.”

The court stated that “The most basic principle—that government lacks the power to restrict expression because of its message, ideas,subject matter, or content..”

Let us know what you think about the video games industries victory in California.

 

IGN and UGO Set to Merge Into Spin-Off Company

IGN -- 1
May 2, 2011 By In 3DS, Android, Apple, DS, Images, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac, Microsoft, News, Nintendo, PC, Playstation 1, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Sony, Videos, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360, Xperia Play

Two entertainment websites, News Corp’s IGN and Hearst Corporation’s UGO, are set to announce their plans to seperate from respective parent and companies and merge to form their own video game focused site. The news of this announcement was broken by a reporty from Peter Kafka of AllThingsD.

Before letting go of IGN, NewsCorp is apparently looking for more investors and properties to fill the gap. According to data from Comscore, IGN has an audience of 19.7 million U.S. visitors, while UGO has 13.1 million U.S. visitors.

Source: AllThingsD

EA Sports Ditches Manuals In Effort to ‘Go Green’

ea_sports_logo
March 22, 2011 By In 3DS, DS, Microsoft, News, Nintendo, PC, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Sony, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360

EA Sports has joined the likes of Ubisoft in ceasing all print manuals in all sports titles. In what will surely be a growing trend, the manual will instead be on the disc itself in digital format.
EA Sports spokesman Rob Semsey confirmed the studio’s change to digital manuals. The switch officially began with Fight Night Champion, which states:

Thanks for helping us reducing the amount of paper in our products.

While not printing manuals does help the environment in the sense that trees won’t be felled for that specific purpose, it also helps EA’s bottom line by taking the whole production process. PR won’t spin it that way, but that was most certainly the biggest factor in this decision. However, don’t expect the savings to be passed onto the consumer. Fight Night Champion still retails for $59.99.

Paper manuals might seem like holdouts from a bygone era, they are quite awesome if done right. Unfortunately, that is rarely the case. Regarding EA, they were redundant and a complete waste of paper. A flimsy, black and white manual with the game’s controls, credits, and the ever-present “Notes” page is not worth a tree.

Actually, does anyone use the “Notes” pages in the manuals?

Source: Kotaku

50 Staff Reportedly Cut From Vicarious Visions

Vicarious Visions
February 10, 2011 By In Apple, DS, Mac, Microsoft, News, Nintendo, PC, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360

There is still fallout a day after Activision dropped a bombshell by cancelling True Crime: Hong Kong and killing the Guitar Hero and DJ Hero series’. Develop is now reporting that Vicarious Visions has been targeted for cutbacks with “around fifty layoffs” hitting the developer. The source of the report also notes that 50 is “easily a quarter of the studio’s staff”.

These 50 layoffs are all apart of Activision’s company-wide plan to cut around 500 positions. The mega-publisher has also shut down seven studios, with DJ Hero developer Freestyle Games on the verge of also being shut down.

Vicarious Visions is mainly known for developing games for the Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero series’.

Via: Joystiq
Source: Develop

Activision Kills Guitar Hero and True Crime: Hong Kong; Freestyle Games Suffers Severe Layoffs DOUBLE UPDATE

True Crime Hong Kong
February 9, 2011 By In Apple, DS, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Microsoft, News, Nintendo, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360

According to Activision’s latest financial statement released today, we can all say goodbye to the Guitar Hero franchise. The mega-publisher has decided to axe the Guitar Hero franchise and the latest in the True Crime series, True Crime: Hong Kong. Freestyle Games, the makers of DJ Hero, have also reportedly suffered “severe layoffs”. There is currently no word if the DJ Hero series has suffered from these layoffs.

“Due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011,”

said Activision in the financial statement. They also went on to confirm the cancellation of True Crime: Hong Kong.

“The company also will stop development on True Crime: Hong Kong. These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world’s best interactive entertainment experiences.”

We will update this story if more information comes from Activision.

UPDATE:

According to Activsion’s “Social Media Guy” Dan Armich, the Guitar Hero series may not be dead. In a new entry to his blog series titled “Fact Check”, he discussed that the Guitar Hero franchise may just be taking a break and that members of the video game press are blowing the news out of proportion.

While news of Guitar Hero’s death may be greatly exaggerated, Dan also attacked the video game press for not checking their sources before reporting on the death of Guitar Hero. However, Dan and other PR representatives at Activision failed to respond to fact-checking emails from members of the video game press including Ben Gilbert of Joystiq.

DOUBLE UPDATE:

Now that the dust has settled on this massive story, it has been revealed that the current Guitar Hero game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock will no longer have DLC support after this month. The official Guitar Hero Twitter account posted this late tonight:

We will release the previously announced DLC track and mix packs for February, but we will not be able to release new DLC packs
So there you have it folks. It looks like for the foreseeable future, the Guitar Hero series is officially dead.

Take-Two Renews Its $1 Million Contest with MLB 2K11

2K-Offering-1-Million-For-MLB-2K11-Perfect-Game
January 7, 2011 By In DS, Microsoft, News, Nintendo, PC, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360

If you find yourself needing $1 million, Take-Two has an interesting proposition for you. Just like last year, they are offering that bounty for the first player to pitch a perfect game in MLB 2K11. Interestingly, they have lowered the entry age to thirteen. I can picture someone becoming the king of 8th grade winning this prize, only to have their parents spend it all or “investing it.”

I love to imagine I’d be the lucky one who gets the code to behave and let me pitch a perfect game, but I’ve given up delusions of grandeur. For Take-Two to offer this contest again means they’ve made sure it’s going to be harder than last year.

MLB 2K11 releases on March 8, 2011 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, PS2, PSP, and DS.