Slashdot Mirror

laughingcoyote writes "The RIAA has asked the panel of federal government Copyright Royalty Judges to lower royalties paid to publishers and songwriters. They're specifically after digital recordings, and uses like cell phone ringtones. They say that the rates (which were placed in 1981) don't apply the same way to new technologies." From the article: "According to The Hollywood Reporter, the RIAA maintains that in the modern period when piracy began devastating the record industry profits to publishers from sales of ringtones and other 'innovative services' grew dramatically. Record industry executives believe this to be cause to advocate reducing the royalties paid to the artists who wrote the original music."

An anonymous reader writes to mention coverage on IGN of an ongoing issue with a WiiConnect update. A faulty update may be causing some Wii consoles to become inoperative. Nintendo is replacing affected consoles, free of charge. From the article: "Several error codes have been reported so far, but the most prevalent of them are 110213 and 32002. We contacted Nintendo about this issue, and they filled us in on what you should do if you find yourself in this predicament. Currently, Nintendo has two options in place to resolve the problem. If you do not have any data saved to your system that is important to keep, then you can contact Nintendo customer service and they will ship a new console to you in 3-4 business days. However, if you do have important data saved to your system, then things get a little trickier"

Dr. Eggman writes "According to an article from IGN, PS3 owners are finding that 1080i-only HDTV sets are scaling down launch games to 480p. The scale-down occurs because the launch games do not support 1080i, however they should be scaling down to an HD resolution of 720 instead of 480p. It is unknown if this is a technical or software issue and if it can be patched soon." ABC news is reporting that a patch which should be available to PS3 owners soon will correct the backward compatibility issues we discussed the other day.

Via Opposable Thumbs at Ars Technica, the news at IGN that there are some annoying backwards compatibility issues with the PS3 and the PS2. Specifically, there are about 196 games that are experiencing issues. From the article: "In response to these issues, Sony's PR department pointed out that it, from the start, expected backwards compatibility to be less than 100%. It was also good enough to point out that some people can put up with playing games that lack sound. Regardless of this somewhat arrogant response, an official statement issued at the PlayStation.com site states that Sony will fix the problems with a future system update, and may even resort to individual patches for certain titles. When this will happen has yet to be specified." Qj.net has a list of some of the problem games, with their specific issues. It sounds bad, but to put this in perspective I believe there are still far more PS2 games playable on the PS3 than there are Xbox games playable on the 360.

All this week, and last week, Nintendo has been inviting game journalists up to their manse to have some extensive hands-on time with Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. At 1up Jeremy Parish has an extensive look at the game, with screenshots, impressions of the Wii control scheme, and a detailed look at the title's first few hours. From the article: "The bulk of swordplay, however, is controlled by moving the entire Wii Remote. Contrary to common opinion, this doesn't entail making massive swiping motions. Although it's certainly possible to wield the remote like an actual sword, a simple flick of the wrist will cause Link to attack. How you move the controller also has no bearing on the kind of strike you make. By default, Link sweeps horizontally; for a vertical slice, you must first lock on to a target. And a swing executed while pressing forward on the analog stick results in a stabbing thrust." Other features on the game include pieces from GameDaily, Kotaku, Gamespot, IGN, Gamasutra, and Game|Life. If you've been wondering about whether or not the controller is going to be tiring, then Chris Kohler's assurances for the worried gamer will be especially appreciated..

There are unhappy gamers on a couple sides of the console wars today. IGN is reporting that Japan's allotment of 100,000 PS3 units will actually be more like 80,000. From that article: "The lack of digits in that number is even more staggering when you consider that the PS2 sold out of nearly a million units when it launched back in March of 2000. Having lived through a few weeks of attempting to obtain a PS3 pre-order, we're not too surprised by the lowered shipping numbers. Allocations disappeared quickly at online retailers that were brave enough to start pre-order programs. The online arm of media retailer Tsutaya ran out of units in 6 minutes according to Nikkei (it felt more like 1 minute to us)." Meanwhile, the Seattle PI reports that Microsoft has once again denied the possibility of a 360 price drop any time soon.

With the advent of new input styles in the PS3 and Wii, many gamers are wondering what it will be like to actually play with the new controllers. Via Aeropause, an article on IGN says that the SIXAXIS controller is flimsy and poorly designed. Meanwhile, via Joystiq, an article on British site Entertainmentwise reports that the Wii isn't physically exhausting at all, as some people feared. After two hours of playtime, in fact, they loved the experience. From the article: "Some gamers have shown concern that the activity level required to play Wii games, especially the sporty titles, may be too high. There are concerns that you have to stand for long periods of time and use body actions such as swinging your arm above your head or at the side of your body. After playing non stop for two hours, did this happen to me? No. I'm not exactly Wonder woman in terms of fitness and I can assure you, as a regular player there was enough action to warrant perhaps making sure one has access to a tap before playing (you're going to want a drink if you play for as long as we did!) and possibly ensuring plenty of moving around space in your living room. The key to the Wii control is that even the most active title on the launch line up, Wii Sports, doesn't require you to make large body motions unless you want to."

willith writes "IGN has posted the official list, straight from RedOctane, of the 40 licensed tracks in Guitar Hero 2. There's a great mix of songs, running the list from 'stuff my parents like' (Allman Brothers) to 'music that kills' (Megadeth). You can get an early start with the GH2 playable demo in this month's Official Playstation Magazine, which contains four songs (Strutter, You Really Got Me, YYZ, and Shout at the Devil). For those about to rock, we salute you!" If some of the songs on the list are making you scratch your head, a helpful gent online has put together YouTube clips of the set list.

Shadowruni writes "According to IGN.com, there will be no sequel to Serenity." Update: 10/07 01:31 GMT by Z : As enjerth pointed out below, this is not 100% accurate. Don't believe IGN, is the lesson. Here's the word from the man himself: "I turn my back for five minutes (that's how long it takes to admire my lovely back) and the interweb goes banoonoos! Isn't there any ACTUAL news to get wrong? Sorry about all this; it might be best if I just stay off the computer for a while ... The brain place is crowded with goods, ideas, sequels, spinoffs, animated versions, miniseries, radio dramas -- this is just the used goods. All the new wares are in there as well and it's deafening. Once I create a verse I never let go of it. And figuring out how much of my energy should be devoted to reawakening the projects you all love with the actors and characters I all love, and how much should be forging ahead and creating entirely new works (which you are contractually obligated to love) is exhausting."

Via VoodooExtreme, an article on Team Xbox covering a panel at X06 on the future of storytelling in games. Along with Mr. Jackson, industry veterans Peter Molyneux and Greg Zeschuck weigh in on this issue. The meat of the article is a video of the presentation, which is regrettably in .wmv format. The Escapist has some highlights of the conversation up in their news section. "'I've got to the stage now where I just end up catching something on DVD and I'm more excited about games coming out in the next 2-3 months than films,' said Peter Jackson, director of Lord of The Rings and founder of Wingnut Interactive, an offshoot of his movie studio. 'That created an awareness in me of the shift in entertainment options out there, and if I'm feeling that others are too.'"

basscomm writes "IGN has gotten their hands on the 'Killer' NIC recently mentioned here on Slashdot and have written a two part article detailing their impressions: 'The performance boost we got out of the Killer NIC in this testing exceeds Bigfoot Networks' own claims of 10-15% gains by a long shot and certainly seems to validate the potential of the technology. We suspect, however, that the fact that these computers were marginal at running F.E.A.R. in the first place had an impact in the comparison. In many cases the non-Killer NIC machine became absolutely bogged down as particles flew and grenades exploded, enough so that the entire machine would hang for a moment as things got sorted out. Obviously this murdered average fps figures.'"

basscomm writes "IGN has gotten their hands on the 'Killer' NIC recently mentioned here on Slashdot and have written a two part article detailing their impressions: 'The performance boost we got out of the Killer NIC in this testing exceeds Bigfoot Networks' own claims of 10-15% gains by a long shot and certainly seems to validate the potential of the technology. We suspect, however, that the fact that these computers were marginal at running F.E.A.R. in the first place had an impact in the comparison. In many cases the non-Killer NIC machine became absolutely bogged down as particles flew and grenades exploded, enough so that the entire machine would hang for a moment as things got sorted out. Obviously this murdered average fps figures.'"

Above and beyond the announcement of their videogame last Friday, PAX apparently passed pleasantly for the PA fans who made it to Bellvue, WA this past weekend. Various news organs have a look at what transpired. eToyChest has a journal of each day, with firsthand accounts and lots of pictures. Gamasutra covers the Penny Arcade Scholarship announced at the event; $10k towards an education to get yourself into the games industry. Kotaku was there to liveblog the keynote, while Joystiq covers the making a comic panel. For wrap-up, we have an IGN report, and the ever exhaustive 1up minisite for everything you'd want to know.

There was a lot of buzz this weekend about the possibility that EA would be buying Crytek, the company currently working on the uber-shiny Crysis PC game. IGN checked in with the mammoth publisher and, at least according to EA, there are no plans for Crytek to join the EA family. Crytek did have some news to share at the Leipzig Games Convention, though: Crysis won't be on the next-gen consoles. It's just too intensive for even the likes of the 360 or PS3, apparently.

Via Joystiq, a preview for Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam at IGN. Such a thing isn't really news, of course, but down at the bottom of the article there is some distressing information. According to IGN, third party online support for the Wii will have to wait until next year. Joystiq points out that this could mean launch titles like Monkey Ball, Blazing Angels, and Call of Duty 3 may be offline-only.

IGN has the news that the Wii version of Twilight Princess has been retooled to allow you to swing Link's sword. The bow and arrow has been moved to the 'B' button, alleviating one of the big complaints hands-on users had at E3. From the article: "Miyamoto felt that that shooting the arrow with the D-pad was too difficult, and the B button allows for quicker and easier shooting. It's unclear if the game will require the new control scheme or if players will be able to chose between different methods of control. Nintendo Dream closed off by asking Miyamoto to name the version of Zelda he personally prefers. The master game maker said that he'd play the Wii version, but added that both versions will be fun."

conq writes "BusinessWeek.com has a piece on how some new videogames are being designed with health-related applications in mind. From the article: 'A stopwatch and a tub of frigid ice water are the standard tools medical researchers use to test pain tolerance. How long can a person keep his arm submerged? In an unusual project, last year researchers at the University of Maryland's medical center used the arm-in-ice water test to evaluate a new video game called Free Dive. The researchers found that their subjects — 60 children, ranging in age from 5 to 12 — were able to keep an arm submerged for about 19 seconds on average. If, however, they simultaneously played Free Dive on a PC with their dry hand, the kids could tolerate an average of 86 seconds in the icy liquid — an increase of more than 400%.'" Juan Rey also writes to mention a report from financial news group Bloomberg, saying that Nintendo expects that their upcoming diet-related software for the Wii will succeed the way 'Brain Training' has done with DS.

GGLucas writes "Contrary to the rumours that have spread about the Rockstar game, Bully, and it's storyline, the game's trailer as released by IGN today spins in a completely different direction, anti-game critics will not be happy. From the article: 'Bully puts players in control of 15 year-old Jimmy Hopkins — a boy who has just begun his first year in the New England-based Bullworth Academy, and a guy who's charged with the mission of ridding the school of a number of its undesirable elements.'"

Via Joystiq, an IGN story giving some background on the Portal project, the interesting FPS/Puzzler that Valve has planned to go out with Half-Life 2: Episode 2. The article interviews the team behind the technology, and gives some insight on what it must be like to have the best senior year of college ever: "Along with the other members of the Portal team, we were students at DigiPen Institute of Technology located in Redmond, WA, next to the Nintendo of America campus. During our senior year, the seven of us created a game called Narbacular Drop, which was an early test of our ideas about portal-based gameplay. Every year, DigiPen puts on an expo for graduating seniors to show their game projects to prospective employers. A couple of Valve people attended, and they asked us to come to the Valve offices and show it to Gabe Newell. Gabe watched our demo and basically hired us on the spot. It was kind of shocking. We stood around in the parking lot afterwards gibbering to ourselves for about 20 minutes."

dud83 writes to mention an article on IGN, in which LucasArts confirms they'll be making games for the Wii, in addition to their already announced titles for the PS3 and 360. From the article: "During the Q&A session, a younger gamer took the microphone and asked if the company would be showing support for the newest motion-controlled Nintendo console. Sansweet's responded simply by stating the likeness between the Wii controller and a lightsaber, followed by a statement that LucasArts would be supporting every next generation system."

bigdady92 writes "Yesterday at Comic-Con it was announced that the new voice for Transformers the Movie was to be Peter Cullen who will voice Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. Peter Cullen was the voice of the original Optimus Prime. The lending of his voice to the cast in a quick 'intro' at Comic-con was greeted by unanimous cheer from the crowd. Many fans, internet boards, blogs were calling for the return of Cullen to voice his most famous and well-loved character Optimus Prime."

Psykechan writes "IGN has revealed some more info about Nintendo's Wii remote controller. Paraphrasing from the official Developer documentation, the controller will communicate with the console using Bluetooth and will last up to 60 hours on two AA (R6/UM3) batteries using only accelerometer functionality or 30 hours using precision aim functionality via the sensor bar. There's also details on memory, LEDs, possible camera functionality, and environmental distractions." From the article: "Light sources from fluorescent and halogen lamps, plastic, mirrors and more may occasionally interfere with the pointer, based on official documentation. To eliminate this interference, the pointer must identify the sensor bar and mark its two coordinates. When pointing with the Wii-mote, the unit is actually interacting with the sensor bar, which then translates data to the television, in effect simulating a direct aim to the television."

fistfullast33l writes "In a followup to previous stories on Slashdot, IGN is reporting that TiVo has released a new version of TiVoToGo that now allows subscribers to transfer shows to portables such as the iPod, PSP, and Treo without the need for third-party software such as Videora. The upgrade costs $25 for current subscribers and includes the ability to transfer to desktop PCs as well. To recap, you can now transfer your TiVo shows to your laptop, desktop, and portable, as well as burn them to DVD. Time for me to subscribe to HBO."

Right on the heels of the announcement of a new infinite dungeons module, via Broken Toys comes word that Atari has completely pulled support from the first Neverwinter Nights game. From the article: "There hasn't been any official word on all this yet but some of the most credible factors, that have been thrown around, include; the financial stability of Atari, and that they didn't want horses for NWN1 to come out officially before NWN2. This also appears to have affected other premium modules that were in production with other teams and there is probably no chance that Witches Wake 2 will ever get produced. It's hard to expect a publisher like Atari to keep on supporting patches forever, and in fact most games are lucky if they can get a few done. The NWN community has been very lucky to have had so many patches with so much free content. We shouldn't lose sight of that. However killing the premium module program makes no sense."

A lot of the big sites have given out their awards for various 'best in show' categories. Bioshock got the nod for 'Game of the Show' from Gamespot, Gamespy, and IGN. From Gamespy's coverage: "I was completely captivated with BioShock like no other game at E3 2006. Is it an RPG? Is it an action game? Is it an adventure? BioShock looks like it has a little of everything: a captivating story, beautiful environments to explore, gorgeous graphics, gameplay that crosses multiple genres... it's hard for me to imagine anyone not seeing the haunting images of a protector escorting that little girl through the unique underwater setting of Rapture and not being immediately hooked. Considering Irrational's history with Looking Glass and the System Shock titles, what I saw of the game at E3 this year vaulted it to the top of my wish list. " 1up gave the nod to Spore.

Sony continues to spend the goodwill it has achieved over the last generation of consoles. As widely reported over the weekend, last Friday CEO for SCE Europe David Reeves spoke to the press. "We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even it didn't have games." This 'you'll buy it anyway' attitude has further annoyed gamers already rankling from the announced pricetag. Next Gen and IGN talk about the two sides of the coin, with IGN laying into the company for the lack of HDMI output in the cheaper model, and Next Generation saying that Sony is far from defeated.

fistfullast33l writes "John Carmack's new cell phone game Orcs and Elves, which debuted at E3 to some fanfare, has led the famous developer to think about expanding his mobile gaming presence. Carmack said in an interview with CNN that he is interested in a massively multiplayer sequel. 'I have absolutely no interest in going and competing with Blizzard in the high end of that market, but a cell phone version might be interesting,' Carmack is quoted as saying. Even more interesting is his comment in the interview that game engines really overlook security. The article indirectly quotes him as saying 'while id Software is especially careful to lock down its game engines, companies that license and make changes to those engines often aren't as focused, which could open the door to disaster.'"

fistfullast33l writes "John Carmack's new cell phone game Orcs and Elves, which debuted at E3 to some fanfare, has led the famous developer to think about expanding his mobile gaming presence. Carmack said in an interview with CNN that he is interested in a massively multiplayer sequel. 'I have absolutely no interest in going and competing with Blizzard in the high end of that market, but a cell phone version might be interesting,' Carmack is quoted as saying. Even more interesting is his comment in the interview that game engines really overlook security. The article indirectly quotes him as saying 'while id Software is especially careful to lock down its game engines, companies that license and make changes to those engines often aren't as focused, which could open the door to disaster.'"

The folks at Red Octane (now owned by Activision), are in the process of making a sequel to the hit PS2 title Guitar Hero. From the IGN hands-on: "Today we checked out 'John the Fisherman' on bass and 'War Pigs' on guitar. Being that you have Les Claypool on bass for 'John the Fisherman', it's not going to be the easiest bass line in the game by a long shot. But on the other hand, there isn't any sort of bass solo in the song so once you get down the main two or three licks, then you've got the song nailed. But it's seriously awesome - Claypool's playing in that song is heavy and pounding so playing his part is rad."

Ubisoft is working on one of the more 'adult' titles slated for the early days of the Wii launch, and there are lots of folks with opinions. From IGN's Red Steel hands-on: "Another important element to the gameplay, which is closely related to the story, is the idea of choice. In Japan, the Yakuza are not senseless killers -- they will only do so when forced into the position. With your girl in possession of the Yakuza, you'll need to become part of the culture, and earn opposing groups respect to get where you need to be. So you'll have to make choices with both your sword and your gun; you may want to perform a headshot or slash a guy's throat, but you can also force them to surrender. In the Yakuza this mutual respect and honor, this admission that one is beaten, is a real thing." More views below, if you Read More.

Impressions from the sequel to a tale about a very angry man. From the IGN hands-on: "Though he's riding atop a Pegasus, the combat here looks to be nearly identical to what you'll find on the ground. A few demonic creatures atop gryphons soon catch up with Kratos and begin swarming about, trying to knock him off his winged transport. Lashing out with his blades (of Chaos or Athena's, we're not sure, as Sony is a little hesitant to make perfectly clear), Kratos takes them out one by one while his mount does the flying."

mcc writes "In a surprise news conference this evening, Nintendo unexpectedly revealed Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, and released a promo video of the title. Smash Bros. Brawl will feature online play; a Nintendog item that blocks your view of the playfield by jumping up on the screen and demanding to be petted; bizarre Dragonball Z style superattacks; your choice of traditional Gamecube or motion-sensing Revmote control; and new characters in the form of Samus (without the suit), Meta Knight, Kid Icarus (!), and... Konami's Solid Snake, complete with a cardboard box he hides in. The only bad news is despite earlier reports it would be a launch title, Smash Bros. Brawl will not be out until 2007."

mcc writes "In a surprise news conference this evening, Nintendo unexpectedly revealed Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, and released a promo video of the title. Smash Bros. Brawl will feature online play; a Nintendog item that blocks your view of the playfield by jumping up on the screen and demanding to be petted; bizarre Dragonball Z style superattacks; your choice of traditional Gamecube or motion-sensing Revmote control; and new characters in the form of Samus (without the suit), Meta Knight, Kid Icarus (!), and... Konami's Solid Snake, complete with a cardboard box he hides in. The only bad news is despite earlier reports it would be a launch title, Smash Bros. Brawl will not be out until 2007."

mcc writes "In a surprise news conference this evening, Nintendo unexpectedly revealed Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, and released a promo video of the title. Smash Bros. Brawl will feature online play; a Nintendog item that blocks your view of the playfield by jumping up on the screen and demanding to be petted; bizarre Dragonball Z style superattacks; your choice of traditional Gamecube or motion-sensing Revmote control; and new characters in the form of Samus (without the suit), Meta Knight, Kid Icarus (!), and... Konami's Solid Snake, complete with a cardboard box he hides in. The only bad news is despite earlier reports it would be a launch title, Smash Bros. Brawl will not be out until 2007."

mcc writes "In a surprise news conference this evening, Nintendo unexpectedly revealed Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, and released a promo video of the title. Smash Bros. Brawl will feature online play; a Nintendog item that blocks your view of the playfield by jumping up on the screen and demanding to be petted; bizarre Dragonball Z style superattacks; your choice of traditional Gamecube or motion-sensing Revmote control; and new characters in the form of Samus (without the suit), Meta Knight, Kid Icarus (!), and... Konami's Solid Snake, complete with a cardboard box he hides in. The only bad news is despite earlier reports it would be a launch title, Smash Bros. Brawl will not be out until 2007."

IGN says that 'sources' have confirmed Halo 3 will be part of Microsoft's E3 Event. From the article: "The video is allegedly two minutes long, although its contents weren't divulged. We're guessing a wild breathtaking battle on Earth. Knowing Microsoft, the publisher will want to show all real, in-game engine footage to counter Sony's fantastical CG videos from E3 2005. When Microsoft was contacted, the company issued its standard reply, 'We don't comment on speculation and rumors.'"

spidweb writes "A long-time Indie game developer writes on IGN.com about trying to make innovative games, and the occasionally painful consequences. From the article: 'Like all (or many, or some, or none at all) other game developers, I spend a lot of time staring into the void of my own uselessness. So, to try to give my life a sense of meaning and accomplishment, I occasionally try to innovate. I really hate trying to do something new. Sure, it gives personal satisfaction. But you know what else is fulfilling? Staying in business. Not losing your house. And you can't pay for food with Creativity checks. But, every five years or so, I try to do something that isn't the standard material.'"

Gamespot reports on the official announcement of an encore to the extremely popular Guitar Hero title from Harmonix. From the article: "RedOctane today confirmed the band was indeed getting back together, as it announced that Guitar Hero II would arrive on the PlayStation 2 this November. While the song list hasn't been announced yet, the publisher confirmed that there would be more than 55 tracks in dire need of shredding. There's also a multiplayer co-op mode that will let players collaborate, each playing lead, rhythm, or bass guitar portions." IGN is running an interview with the gents behind the game, giving us heads up on their plans for the sequel. Rock on!

ParadyNexus writes "IGN recently posted an interesting article featuringWarcraft III on an interactive digital table. From the article 'Possible uses of the technology range from tactical map manipulation and business collaboration to parlor games, but we see a real future in gaming. An intern at MERL was able to get WarCraft III running on one of the prototypes and shot a video of the DiamondTouch and a voice recognition system in action.' Photos and answers to commonly asked questions and a video showing multi user interaction can be found online."

hmccabe writes "'The Joy of Painting', the PBS show that taught many of us how to paint 'happy little trees,' is being made into a videogame. Apparently Nintendo's DS and Revolution systems, and PC computers will be seeing the title, which has been confirmed as not-an-april-fools-joke." From the article: "Hatcher himself admits to being a big Ross fan, which is partly why he wants to make games based on his work. 'I personally loved watching Bob Ross growing up and I enjoyed watching how easily he created his paintings. We want to translate that same feeling of watching the TV show into playing a Bob Ross game," he said. "Whether you are an eight-year-old child, or a 65-year-old grandma, we want anyone to be able to pick up the game to create and play to your heart's content.'" "

There are hints floating around already at some of the titles that will be unveiled during this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. 1up has a short piece saying that Final Fantasy XIII is almost done, and will get a powerful debut at the show in May. IGN, meanwhile, is rumourmongering that Halo 3 will also make an appearance. Not only that, they say, it's slated for a March 2007 release. From the article: "By theoretically shifting Halo to next spring, Microsoft thus allows third-party companies a better chance to shine independently of Bungie's uber shooter during the fall 2006 season. One must wonder, however, why the game wouldn't come out simultaneously with the movie, due in summer 2007. But if Halo 3's alleged March release date is officially confirmed, perhaps the game will leave questions for the movie to answer."

Revo writes "IGN.com unveiled leaked specs for Nintendo's upcoming Revolution console today. The system really is about twice as powerful as a GameCube and a far cry from the Xbox 360 and PS3. Of course, the focus is on the innovative controller and the affordable price."

An anonymous reader writes "IGN writes that "In a QA session following the platform keynote address at GDC 2006 this morning, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Phil Harrison confirmed what was heavily demanded for import gamers all over the world and yet previously thought unthinkable for a major corporation: the PS3 will be region-free for gaming." There's no chance that the MPAA members would allow the same for movies but at least it's a step in the right direction."

IGN has a piece today looking at ten completely outrageous claims made by games industry veterans. My personal favorite: "Former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi may be retired (and frozen in a cryogenic coffin), but he would be proud of new company head Satoru Iwata for his May, 2004 assertion that, 'Customers do not want online games.' The Big N has long made bold claims about the marketplace based solely about what is - or, as it happens, isn't - happening in Japan, but this one definitely earns Iwata a spot on our list. Two years later, we're quite confident that two million Xbox Live subscribers, more than five million World of Warcraft subscribers and, ironically, more than a million DS Wi-Fi Connection users would disagree with Iwata's statement."

IGN managed to get their hands on a Revolution Developer's Kit, and have put up a tantalizing hands-on impressions article. Folks who are very much looking forward to Nintendo's entrance into the next-gen war may find things of interest here. From the article: "One thing is crystal clear from the controller-based development kits, though: Revolution will definitely operate as an extension of the GameCube hardware. These preliminary kits include only a wired Revolution controller, a wired nunchuck attachment and a wired motion bar, which some studios have labeled the 'wand.' So the obvious question is, how can developers possibly hope to test any of this gear out? The answer is simple: the controller and its attachments plug into existing GameCube development hardware."

kleptonin writes "IGN is running an article about a new game being developed by Rockstar San Diego. Unlike their previous releases, the game will feature no guns, no violence, and no swearing. The game, Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis, will be exclusive to the Xbox 360, and will cost $39.99." Chris Morris, over at the CNN Game Over column, has some commentary on Grand Theft Ping Pong.

spidweb writes "RPGVault has an article from a long-time indie game author about how people who want innovation in games shouldn't look to the small developers. It is his view that innovation in games will come from big companies, if at all. From the article: 'Indie developers have a real purpose in this world. They make little niche products for markets too small for Activision. They make many new puzzle games for the casual audience. Or, at least, the same old puzzle game again and again. They rewrite Asteroids... because someone has to.'"

An anonymous reader writes "IGN has an article up looking at the impact of violent videogames. It discusses some of the rationale on the gaming industry side for having violent images in their games, and the reactions from politics and lawmakers to these games." From the article: "Despite the large body of evidence that supports a link between playing violent videogames and aggression, lawmakers still have a difficult time convincing the courts that they should be removed from children's hands. One of the reasons for this is that most of the work done is correlational studies which look for a link between two factors. That is, if we see an increase in violent videogame play, is there also an increase in violent behavior?"

The launch of the newest version of Nintendo's DS handheld has seen hundreds of Japanese gamers line up for the privilege of owning one. From the IGN article: "With such an early sellout, it should come as no surprise that retailers had to turn people away. IGN noticed a steady stream of people arriving at shops, seeing the line, confirming that the DS was indeed impossible to get, then leaving. Some got in line anyway, perhaps in the hope that a few extra units would be available at the end." Update: 03/02 15:46 GMT by Z : Gamasutra spells out that the DS Lite has sold out after only a short time on the Japanese market.

Ant writes "IGN has a top ten list that focuses on some of the brilliantly terrible game controllers that shipped for game systems. Many of these were first-party, out-of-the-box concepts, while others were cash-in ideas from engineers that clearly either didn't have a sense in their noggin, or they simply listened too much to their marketing department. Either way, these controllers are a bad bunch."