50 Cent Pursues Diamond Skull in Iraq in New Video Game
50 Cent pursues his stolen diamond-embedded skull of legends in Iraq in his latest video game adventure. GamePro explains the new 50 Cent Blood on the Sand game with a rap. They do say the game is worth picking up. Take a look below. You can also find the game's website here and a trailer here. The game is rated M for mature.
A study of 1,254 Pennsylvania and South Carolina 7th and 8th graders in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that 80% had played video games in the past 6 months. The study found nearly half of the 80% who were gamers played at least one M-rated game on a regular basis. This isn't unexpected since these are M-rated games the kids are playing not Adult-Only rated games.
Of 1254 participants (53% female, 47% male), only 80 reported playing no electronic games in the previous 6 months. Of 1126 children who listed frequently played game titles, almost half (48.8%) played at least one violent (mature-rated) game regularly (67.9% of boys and 29.2% of girls). One third of boys and 10.7% of girls play games nearly every day; only 1 in 20 plays often or always with a parent. Playing M-rated games is positively correlated (p < .001) with being male, frequent game play, playing with strangers over the Internet, having a game system and computer in one’s bedroom, and using games to manage anger.
So nearly half of the kids played an M-rated game regularly. M-rated games are recommended for ages 17+ because they may contain intense violence, gore, sexual content and/or strong language. It would be interesting to see similar stats of how many kids have seen an R-rated film for comparison. It seems likely that a good percentage of kids this age regularly see an R-rated movie - especially kids with access to cable or satellite television. The ESRB's rating guide can be found here. (via ActionTrip)
Rockstar Games has released this trailer from Grand Theft Auto IV -- GTA IV. According to the official website the release date will be 10-16-07. The new game takes place in "Liberty City" which looks like New York City. Predictably, politicians have already made complaints about the new game.
Early reports, like this one, indicated that Dead Rising, a zombie game that takes place in a small town, was going to be banned in Germany.
Capcom's upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive, Dead Rising, a free-roaming(ish) zombie-blasting game that sets you in a small town completely overrun with zombies and lets you use anything as a weapon (hedge trimmers, park benches), has been denied release in Germany. Ever the symbol for "cute and cuddly," Germany's government feels the game is a tad too violent.
Pro-G sets the story straight and cites publisher Capcom who says there is no German ban.
"The game has not been banned in Germany. It is scheduled for release on September 8," a Capcom US rep told 1up. So there you have it. Xbox 360 owners residing in Germany can look forward to some zombie-slaying action just like the rest of us.
A Gamespy review has found some violence in the game for horror fans. Gamespy also notes how the game offers a wide variety of weapons choices beyond the typical hockey sticks, bats, chainsaws and axes.
While there are plenty of missions to keep you busy, this game is, at its heart, all about killing zombies in the goriest manner possible. To that end, you'll be able to pick up just about anything lying around the mall and wield it as a weapon. And when I say anything, I mean anything. Getting near an object will bring up a small icon (mapped to the B button) which indicates that it can be picked up by Frank. We killed zombies with everything from cash registers and sledge hammers to propane tanks and handguns. Oh, and coat hangers, mannequins, planters, boomerangs, and zombie limbs, too. There are a lot more deadly options lying around, but isn't it more fun to find out for yourself?
However, Dead Rising doesn't appear to be stirring up parental and congressional complaints like Stubbs the Zombie did. The Stubbs game caused a stir last year with its zombie cannibalism. More about the game can be found on the official website. An Amazon.com listing has the game coming out for the Xbox on August 6th. Dead Rising carries a Mature rating.
MSNBC.com reports that two games with zombie cannibalism made a MediaWise Parent Alert! list of games to avoid letting your kids play.
Games featuring graphic scenes of cannibalism, "F.E.A.R." and "Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse," were among the 12 "games to avoid" listed Tuesday by the National Institute on Media and the Family.
"It's something we've never seen before," said institute president David Walsh, warning that today's games are "more extreme" and more easily available to underage kids than ever before.
Here are the twelves games MediaWise recommends parents should avoid plus the ratings they have been given by the ESRB:
Far Cry (M)
F.E.A.R. (M)
The Warriors (M)
Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse (M)
True Crime: New York City (M)
Blitz: The League (M)
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (M)
God of War (M)
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (M)
Urban Reign (T)
Conker: Live and Reloaded (M)
Resident Evil 4 (M)
All the above games were rated M for Mature (17+) except for Urban Reign which was rated T for Teens. More about the ratings can be found here on the ESRB website. The organization also recommended ten games that were safe for children.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (E 10+)
The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer (E 10+)
Peter Jackson's King Kong (T)
Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (E)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (T)
Sly 3: Honor Amongst Thieves (E 10+)
We Love Katamari (E)
Sid Meier's Pirates! (E)
Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX3 (E 10+)
Backyard Baseball 2005 (E)
The Stubbs the Zombie in particular has struck a nerve because of the violent content which sounds similar to what you might see in an R-rated horror zombie flick. But the game is already rated M for teens 17 and over indicating that kids should not play the violent zombie game. More about Stubbs the Zombie can be found on the official website (which also carries a warning) and on Amazon.com. Sen. Joe Lieberman blasted the game according to the MSNBC.com article.
In "Stubbs the Zombie," the lead character eats the brains of humans as blood splatters across the screen.
"It's just the worst kind of message to kids," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., who joined institute officials at a press conference announcing the group's 10th annual video game report card. "They can be dangerous to your children's health."
MSNBC.com also has another article with recommendations on how parents should approach gaming and M-rated games.
THQ made a game in 2002 called Evil Dead: A Fistfull of Broomstick that about killed off the hopes for developing more games based on the popular Evil Dead cult films. However, the latest Evil Dead game, Evil Dead Regeneration, is having the opposite effect -- it is breathing life back into the series. The game features audio from actor Bruce Campbell and it was released with a $20 price tag which is probably contributing to its success.
Evil Dead Regeneration follows Ash, the lone survivor of a camp discovering the Necronomicon -- the wholly evil book of the dead. Thought to have murdered his companions, Ash is arrested, convicted of the crime, and sentenced to Sunny Meadows, an institute for the criminally insane, but not for long. Ash's peaceful stay is about to end -- thanks to the perverted experiments of his very own psychiatrist. Hell-bent on using science to harness the Necronomicon's powers, the mad doctor unleashes the book's all-powerful Evil on the world -- releasing a new slew of Deadites, monsters and spirits, twisting reality into a hellish strudel and leaving mankind with that not-so-fresh, apocalyptic feeling.
Yahoo Games says "the cult classic film franchise finally gets a worthy video game. Maybe it's the disposable dwarf sidekick?" Diginews gave the game an 8.3 and said it is a "worth every penny of its $20 price tag." Not all the reviews were great -- Worth Playing only gave it a 6.5 out of 10 and G4TV a 3 out of 5 -- but most reviewers noted improvements over Fistfull of Broomstick. The reviews are definitely good enough to allow THQ to make another sequel. Other reviews here, here, here and here. Evil Dead Generation was developed by THQ's Cranky Pants Games studio. Information about the latest Evil Dead game can be found on the official website and on Amazon.com. More information can be found here on the Deadites Online website.
IGN reports that Eidos has announced January 18, 2006 as the release date for the controversial cops and gangsters title called 25 to Life.
Developed by Avalanche, 25 To Life is a third-person shooter set in modern urban streets. You'll choose to play either cops or criminals to either infiltrate a drug lord's inner sanctum, or bust out of jail and fight your way up the ranks of the underground.
25 to Life will be available for the PS2, Xbox and PC. More information can be found on the official game website and on Amazon.com.
25 to Life has been highly criticized. It has been called "evil" and a "cop killer" game. Ferrago reports that another Eidos gangster shooter, called Roll Call, that allows the player to be a good or bad cop, has been renamed Zero Tolerance.
Gangster shooter Roll Call has been renamed and re-dated this week, publisher Eidos Interactive has announced. Roll Call will from henceforth be known as Zero Tolerance -- City Under Fire, and will now be released in the second-quarter of 2006 (sometime between spring and early summer, broadly speaking). This new date serves Europe, and possibly other PAL regions, whilst the publisher has yet to announce plans for North America. The game is still being created for the Xbox and the PS2, with Rocksteady Studios of London developing this latest gang-land action title.
If a recent study was true many gamers will probably play the gangster or the bad cop in the above games.
Speaking of video game violence, Rockstar has launched the official website for The Warriors, a new game launching in October for the PS2 and Xbox. The game is based on the 1979 Paramount Pictures cult movie called
The Warriors. The game features rival gangs on the streets of New York during the 1970s.
A battle on the streets of New York.
The armies of the night number 60,000 strong,
and tonight they're all after The Warriors
- a street gang wrongly accused of killing a rival gang leader.
The Warriors must make their way from one end of New York
to their turf on the other side of the city.
All that stands between The Warriors and their survival are 20 miles
and thousands of street gang members.
The Warriors will be available for purchase in October, 2005.
IGN recently profiled all nine key members of The Warriors in
their two part feature: Part 1 and Part 2.
Australia isn't bothering with changing the game ratings on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas -- they are simply banning the game outright. Because of the hidden sex scenes found in the game Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification has outlawed sales of the game according to an AP news story. Here is a statement released by the office:
"Revocation of a classification means the computer game cannot be legally sold, hired, advertised or exhibited in Australia from the date the decision is made," the statement said.
"Businesses that sell or hire computer games should remove existing stocks of this game from their shelves immediately," said Des Clark, director of the government-funded classification board.
Originally the game had an MA15+ rating in Australia, meaning it could only be sold to people over the age of 15. The BBC reported that Australians were also warned to watch and make sure kids who already owned the game did not have access to the Hot Coffee modification:
"Businesses that sell or hire computer games should remove existing stocks of this game from their shelves immediately," said the director of the ratings board, Des Clark.
"Parents are strongly advised to exercise caution in allowing children continued access to the game, particularly if they have might have access to the 'Hot Coffee' modification."
The Hot Coffee modification was created by a Dutch fan of the game, who found a way to unlock explicit sexual scenes in San Andreas.
Rockstar's problems from the explicit sex acts that were
hidding inside Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas seem to be
increasing each day. The BBC reports that the U.S. House of Representatives
has voted 355 to 21 to pass House Resolution 376 which calls for a federal inquiry to determine if Rockstar intentionally deceived the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) to avoid an Adults-Only rating. The bill was introduced by Congressman Fred Upton (R - MI).
"The release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was widely anticipated, but an adults-only rating would have severely limited its sales in retail outlets," said Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan.
"It appears that the publisher has blatantly circumvented the rules in order to peddle sexually explicit material to our youth, and they should be held accountable. A company cannot be allowed to profit from deceit."
The vote follows calls by US senator Hillary Clinton for an investigation into who put the sex scenes into San Andreas.
Some steps have already been taken against GTA: San Andreas.
The ESRB changed the rating
from Mature (M) to Adults-Only (AO). Major retailers including
Wal-Mart, Target and Circuit City have pulled the game from shelves.
The GTA incident started when a game modification called
Hot Coffee appeared on the Internet that allowed the sex scenes to
be viewed.
Rockstar's parent company, New York-based Take Two Interactive Software Inc., has admitted that the explicit sex scenes in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were built-in to the game by Rockstar programmers. Rockstar's statement came after the scenes were found in a PS2 version of the game. Rockstar said the company had not intended the scenes to be viewable by players. The scenes are in the PC, Xbox and PlayStation2 version of the games. The company had previously stated that a modification was created by hackers. However, many bloggers and gamers did not believe the company's report about the modification. MSNBC.com also reports that the video game industry rating board, the ESRB, has changed the rating for the game from Mature (M) to Adults Only (AO).
Take-Two spokesman Jim Ankner acknowledged in an Associated Press interview that the questioned scenes were created by Rockstar programmers. "The editing and finalization of any game is a complicated task and it's not uncommon for unused and unfinished content to remain on the disc," he said.
In a statement, the president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board said the sex scenes were programmed by Rockstar "to be inaccessible to the player."
But ESRB chief Patricia Vance also acknowledged that the "credibility and utility" of the industry-run board’s initial "M" rating had been "seriously undermined."
Many retailers sell "M" rated games, which "may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older,” according to the Entertainment Software Rating Board, but won’t sell "AO"-labeled games at all.
Some blogger discussions on the news can be found here, here, here, here and here. A Technorati search also brings up many more blog entries.
Rockstar Blames Hackers For Hidden Sex Acts In Game
Rockstar Games is still facing heavy criticism for what was originally thought to be a special code that unlocked secret explicit sex acts among characters inside the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game. Rockstar says they did not put explicit sex acts in the game and blames the hidden sex acts on a hack called the Hot Coffee modification. Slashdot reports
that Rockstar has issued the following statement
explaining how the Hot Coffee modication took place.
"So far we have learned that the "hot coffee" modification is the work of a
determined group of hackers who have gone to significant trouble to alter
scenes in the official version of the game," reads the statement. "In
violation of the software user agreement, hackers created the 'hot coffee'
modification by disassembling and then combining, recompiling and altering
the game's source code. Since the 'hot coffee' scenes cannot be created
without intentional and significant technical modifications and reverse
engineering of the game's source code, we are currently investigating
ways that we can increase the security protection of the source code
and prevent the game from being altered by the 'hot coffee' modification."
Despite Rockstar's hacker defense, Gamespot.com
reports that Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) will call on the
Federal Trade Commission to launch an inquiry into the Hot Coffee
mod.
Clinton, a vociferous critic of violence in the media, will be joined by David
Walsh, president and founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family;
Mary Bissell, fellow at the New America Foundation; and Kiersten Stewart,
director of public policy for the Family Violence Prevention Fund.
Clinton is expected to call on the FTC to determine who is responsible for the
Hot Coffee mod, a modification that unlocks sexually explicit minigames in
Rockstar's recently published PC version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
While the game is rated M, and therefore not readily sold to those below the
age of 17, the mod is easily available online.
IGNIQ.com
reports that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) has also
launched an investigation into the content of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
It will be important to determine if Rockstar is correct that a group
of hackers was able to modify the game and insert lewd content.
If games can be modified easily from the outside then other video games might
face similar problems in the future.
Early reports, like 
THQ made a game in 2002 called 
IGN 
Speaking of 
Rockstar's problems from the explicit sex acts that were
hidding inside 
