In Real Life

PS3 Bandit’s Larceny Plans Foiled By Store Manager

5:00AM February 5, 2012 | Owen Good

Protip: aluminium foil is only useful for protecting you from the mind-controlling radio signals sent out by the CIA. If you’re using it to shoplift games, all it does is attract the attention of the store manager. More »


News

Oklahoma Lawmaker Wants Anti-Bullying Tax On Video Games

12:30PM February 2, 2012 | Owen Good

“Violent video games,” a governmental classification of speech and expression that the Supreme Court found a smidge troubling last June, would be taxed extra under a proposed law in Oklahoma, with the collected money going toward state programs fighting bullying and child obesity. Here we go again. More »


News

California Pays ESA $US1.3m Over Video Game Free Speech Court Battles

3:00AM January 27, 2012 | Evan Narcisse

Though they raised the ire of anti-SOPA/PIPA activists for their one-time support of the controversial anti-piracy bills, the ESA fought to numerous legal battles in the California court system against legislation that criminalised the sale of M-rated video games. More »


In Real Life

Report: Namco Mental Health Of Programmer Who Committed Suicide

8:30PM January 26, 2012 | Brian Ashcraft

Mr N fell in love with Namco’s space shooter Xevious. On his job application, Mr N wrote that from the moment he played Xevious as a junior high school student, he knew he wanted to make games. And he knew Namco was the company for him. More »


In Real Life

These Video Game Companies Hunt Pirates For Cash

7:00PM January 17, 2012 | Luke Plunkett

You know how Witcher 2 developer CD Projekt were using German courts to go after alleged pirates of the game? And how they gave up when everyone told them how shitty the practice they were using was? Turns out CD Projekt are just the tip of the iceberg. More »


News

The Great Fallout Legal Battle Ends Without A Fallout MMO

9:00AM January 10, 2012 | Mike Fahey

As reported last week, the legal battle between Bethesda and Interplay over the final fate of a massively multiplayer online Fallout game has ended in a settlement, one that leaves full control of Fallout intellectual properties in the hands of Bethesda. More »


News

EA Invokes First Amendment Protection For Video Games In Trademark Dispute

6:00AM January 9, 2012 | Owen Good

Electronic Arts is asking a federal judge to rule that it has a First Amendment right to depict real-life military helicopters in video games such as Battlefield 3 without the permission of the aircraft’s maker. More »


News

Capcom Can’t Give Straight Answer On SOPA

7:30PM January 7, 2012 | Owen Good

Earlier this week, according to Digital Trends, a Capcom spokesperson was asked for the company’s position on the Stop Online Piracy Act. “The ESA represents us on these matters,” was the reply. The ESA supports SOPA. Applying the transitive property, that means Capcom supports SOPA. More »


News

Electronic Arts Loses Fight For SSX Domain Name

1:00PM January 6, 2012 | Owen Good

Electronic Arts has lost its bid to win the domain “ssx.com” from a holdings firm that bought it up in October. While the holdings firm parked the domain and briefly served ads leading to the game — an action that EA used as the basis for its complaint — an arbitration panel didn’t see that as enough evidence of bad faith to justify turning over the domain. More »


Mobile

Indie Says Atari’s On Warpath Against iPhone Apps With ‘Even A Passing Resemblance’ To Their Old Games

11:00AM January 6, 2012 | Owen Good

Vector Tanks was around for at least three years on the iTunes App Store and looked a lot like Battlezone the whole time. It isn’t there anymore. Atari recently sent legal papers over to the game’s developer, Black Powder Media, which now warns other indie developers that “anything that has even a passing resemblance to an Atari classic” can expect to see a copyright infringement claim. More »