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Dragon's Dogma: The Kotaku Review This Wikipedia Scanner thing is a hoot! First it caught EA trying to tart up its own image, now it’s caught the ESA trying to erase…well, the truth! In August 2006 and April 2007, someone at the ESA’s headquarters in Washington went a little snippy-snip crazy: In one paragraph, someone at ESA deleted a nuanced discussion of mod chip legality, replacing it with a flat assertion that mod chips are illegal.
Less than a minute later, a lengthy section on the positive uses of mod chips was deleted, as was a notation that the US Supreme Court has not yet dealt with the DMCA.
Finally, a sentence stating that mod chips are legal in Australia was removed.
The first two, not cool, but whatever. But the third? Doesn’t look good when you delete the truth. Mod chips are legal in Australia. The Australian High Court ruled in October 2005: There is no copyright reason why the purchaser should not be entitled to copy the CD-ROM and modify the console in such a way as to enjoy his or her lawfully acquired property without inhibition.
I thought that was good news! Guess it’s actually bad news. Terrible, even, and someone should really delete any mention of it before the unthinkable happens. Like an Australian High Court decision having any impact whatsoever on the laws of the United States.
ESA Altered Wikipedia Entries on Mod Chips, Abandonware [Game Politics]
Game blog GameOfTheBlog is right. Yesterday when we posted the FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR arcade PC rig, we totally missed the big picture. That many dollar signs can do that to ya! That same company is also offering up translucent polymer arcade cabinet that can be gold, platinum or chrome plated *and* has that FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR arcade PC rig already in it. Called the Official Game Haven Crystalcade, here’s a quick rundown of how tricked out it is:
Leipzig wouldn’t be a game convention without a new Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer as well as game creator Hideo Kojima introducing new, “undisclosed” in-game themes. Yes, themes! Konami-wise, there will also be Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, Castlevania The Dracula X Chronicles and Silent Hill Origins for the PSP, Wii title Dewy’s Adventure and recently unveiled Silent Hill V. Konami’s German sales and marketing director Martin Schneider says: Leipzig is an incredibly important show for Konami, more so than ever this year. These are exciting times for Konami’s European operations, and the titles and presentations we have on offer showcase this perfectly. With the likes of MGS4 and PES 2008 on display for the first we have two of the most anticipated games on the horizon.
MGS4-on-Xbox-360 rumours starting in five, four, three, two… Kojima to show off themes [CVG]
Japan’s favourite roulette-spinning board game Life (no, really) is getting a Wii edition called Jinsei Game Wii (The Game of Life Wii). Players use their Wii-mote to do Wii-mote things like move their characters around, spin the roulette around and play mini-games. Those mini games include “Don’t Blow Up the Balloon,” “Stick Swords in the Barrel” and “Shoot Down UFO Butts.” Those aren’t the games actual names, but take a look at the screen of the UFO Butt game is after the jump. You’ll agree. That mini-game is so “Shoot Down UFO Butts.” Life is Mii friendly as the screenie indicates. The first stage apparently has a kindergarten theme, complete with slides. Man, I loved slides as a kid. Slides are rad.
I like the Wii’s online setup. For a first-time attempt, it could have been worse. Then again, it could also be better! Wii demos would be a nice place to start. And Nintendo might just be looking into that. Above is a sample of a questionnaire (click for a bigger shot) that’s part of the latest Nintendo Power sweepstakes. Now whether they’re talking about Wii demos for all, or some kinda paid service for Nintendo Power readers (like OXM’s on Xbox Live), I do not know. That pic’s all we got. Nintendo Power sweepstakes talks about Wii demos [Go Nintendo]
Didn’t think a documentary about two guys trying to set a Donkey Kong world record would be fun? Pfft. Idiot. King of Kong, the story of Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe’s quest to be #1 in the world at Donkey Kong, is winning people over. Them and their money. So creators Ed Cunningham and Seth Gordon are working on more than the DVD release of the doco: they’re writing a draft for a film adaptation. A proper film, with real actors.
Learn about what a “Dramatic Director” does! Discover the benefits of motion capture! See theatrical types with dots on their faces! Here’s the third making of clip for Heavenly Sword. This episode’s theme: Real actors can make gaming a dramatic art form.
Thanks IceAlchemist!
Remember how Doritos were running a game design competition? The winners were just announced. Sorry, that should read “winners”. Because there are no winners here. Only losers! See, Doritos have ignored the dozens of legitimate, and somewhat appealing game design entries in favour of five ideas that range from being rubbish to worse to stolen.
That shot above? It’s from one of the finalists, Rhythum Racing. We’ll assume the typo is intentional. We’ll also ignore the fact his accompanying artwork is a screenshot from Jeff Minter’s Neon project. Complete with Llamasoft watermark.
When the first BioShock copies hit the street last week, there was almost universal joy amongst the chosen few. With the exception of a handful of those who’d snagged the Limited Edition pack, and opened them up to discover their Big Daddy figures had been all busted up in shipping. Cause for concern? Appears not. 2K have sent word that should your Big Daddy be damaged when you pick up your LE box this week, you can just hit up their support site (not up just yet) and get a new one sent out to you. Best part? Because you’re having to wait for a new one, they’ll send you a printed copy of the game’s art book. BioShock Busted Big Daddy Support
If anyone is studying PR or, I don’t know, community management in the gaming industry, this right here would be a shining example of getting it right. The above poster (click for larger version), entitled Ode to the Warhawk Public Beta Testers, was made up by Sony and Incognito to thank everyone involved in…the game’s public beta. The top five testers (based on points) and the top five forum posters (based on posts) have had their names emblazoned on the poster’s Warhawks. Which you can see by hitting up the close-ups in the gallery below. Classy.
