EA's Medal of Honor Under Fire for Letting Players be the Taliban
Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor game is under fire because it lets you play as the Taliban against the U.S. The video game will be released in October. Fox News interviews a mother, whose son died in the war, who doesn't think a game that lets someone play the opposition in a current war should be sold. The opposite argument is that it is a multiplayer game so someone has to take the other side. Take a look:
Batman: Arkham Asylum from Rocksteady Studios won Best Game at this year's BAFTA Video Game Awards. Here is a complete list of the winners as well as a video of the awards show.
2010 BAFTA Video Game Awards Winners
Best Game: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady Studios
Best Action Game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Naughty Dog
Artistic Achievement: Flower, thatgamecompany
Best Family & Social Game: Wii Sports Resort, Nintendo
Best Gameplay: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady Studios
Best Handheld Game: LittleBigPlanet PSP, SCE Cambridge / XDEV
Best Multiplayer Game: Left 4 Dead 2, Valve Software
Best Original Score: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Naughty Dog
Best Sports Game: FIFA 10, Electronic Arts
Best Story: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Naughty Dog
Best Use of Audio: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Naughty Dog
Best Use of Online: FIFA 10, Electronic Arts
Here is a video of the awards presentation. Take a look:
Electronic Arts announced in a press release that its Battlefield Heroes game has passed the two million registered users plateau. EA is looking for names for a new map they have created for the game.
Set against the backdrop of autumn colors, the new map will be infantry-focused and set in a village with dozens of intersecting canals. Intense battles will play out on the bridges and crossings, while sneaky players can use the alleyways and channels to move unnoticed for sudden flanking maneuvers and rear-guard actions.
Starting today, EA is accepting proposed names for the new map at http://www.battlefieldheroes.com. Players can submit a proposed name for the soon-to-be released map, and that name may be selected by the Battlefield Heroes development team.
"Along with this new map, 'Heroes of the Fall' includes a slew of changes including upgrades of the Gunner class and improvements to the friends system," said Ben Cousins, General Manager, Battlefield Heroes team. "We've also added a brand new ranking system for the game - players can earn cool new titles for their heroes as they play - showing everyone on the battlefield how dedicated they are."
The free online game has been quickly gaining users. Joystiq says they passed one million users in July. The game does utilize Battlefunds - a fictional currency bought with a credit card or PayPal - to purchase certain character customisation items. Players can also make purchases with Valor Points (points earned by playing the game) if they have accrued enough of them.
The Gears of War game now has its own energy drink called Imulsion. The drink is based on Imulsion in the game, which is described on Gearspedia as "a phosphorescent, highly volatile, low-viscosity fluid originally discovered by an oil exploration drill on the planet Sera."
Arts Technica reports that Future Publishing is launching a print magazine about World of Warcraft. The magazine, World of Warcraft: The Magazine, will be published quarterly with heavy paper stock, a glossy cover. Each issue will contain 148 ad-free pages.
"This won't be driven by advertising; it's based on a print-on-demand format. We will launch the subscription website on Friday, monitoring who is subscribing in what language, and print that many copies exactly," John Gower, International Director of FuturePlus, told Ars. "This will be environmentally friendly—no waste." This print on demand format allows them to keep publishing costs as low as possible, and releasing magazines to subscribers only—no newsstand—will make sure no copies get thrown away.
"I'm not sure gamers were walking into Waldenbooks to find the newest information anyway," Dan Amrich, the magazine's editor in chief, said. So how will the quarterly magazine be advertised? The magazine will launch at Blizzcon, with people being able to subscribe for $39.95, £29.95, or €34.95. That may seem high for four issues a year, but the team is promising a high-quality, large format magazine with heavy paper stock, a glossy cover, and 148 pages an issue... and no ads. "We want this to be a nice surprise when people get it in the post, like unwrapping a Christmas present every quarter."
Future Publishing may have a shot with this even though we are in a recession and the print media is transitioning to digital formats. Some die-hard Warcraft players will probably subscribe. When Dungeons & Dragons was all the rage people would buy the manuals year after year because they contained beautiful illustrations and they were loaded with lots of interesting information. Details and subscription information for the magazine can be found at worldofwarcraftthemagazine.com.
Joystiq reports that there is a rumor two new races are coming to World of Warcraft. The include a Goblin Horde race called Goblin and a werewolf-like Alliance race called Worgen.
On the Horde (Citrus Cherry Red, in terms of Mountain Dew Game Fuel) side, players will be able to create Goblin characters. On the Alliance (Wild Fruit Blue) side, the new playable race is the Worgen (which is like a werewolf, but with a more Swedish-sounding name). We'd love to see how Blizzard reconciles the "good guy" Alliance with a creature that is "thoroughly evil, delighting in torturing and devouring intelligent creatures."
Wow.com also has a post about the new races. Wow.com and Scrolls of Lore blogged earlier about some Halloween masks (above) that may have provided an early hint at these new races.
Varietyreports that Sam Raimi has signed on to direct a film based on the World of Warcraft. Sam Raimi has directed the Spider-Man and Evil Dead films. He is a very talented director which gives hope that any Warcraft films could be good.
The plan is for Raimi to supervise development of "Warcraft" and shoot the picture after he completes work on "Spider-Man 4," which gets under way early next year for Columbia Pictures.
The movie will be financed under the Legendary Pictures' co-production and co-financing deal with WB, in a manner similar to the Todd Phillips-directed "The Hangover" plus the Roven-produced "Batman Begins" and "Dark Knight."
The "Warcraft" universe features an epic conflict between the Horde and the Alliance. The game has developed a global following since its launch in 1994 and shows no signs of slowing. Its most recent expansion, "Wrath of the Lich King," sold more than 2.8 million copies in the first day of release and more than 4 million its first month.
Ain't it Cool News also has a story about Raimi directing World of Warcraft. Blizzard has a press release here.
Most of the movies based on video games that have been made into movies have not be successful at the box office. There is some hope that the upcoming Prince of Persia film, which has been generating buzz could change that.
The Twitter Blog has a post about TweetCraft, a Twitter client that can be used within the World of Warcraft.
TweetCraft is an in-game Twitter client for World of Warcraft, the wildly popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. If you're a WoW player you might like it because you can send and receive tweets in-game, upload screenshots to TwitPic, automatically tweet when you get an achievement, and more. Also, the overly dramatic video promo is fun.
Blizzard put up a lovely 12-foot orc and wolf sculpture to celebrate the opening of their new offices in Orange County, California. The statue was created by the Weta Workshop, the special-effects company behind the LOTR films. (via ocregister.com via Wonderland)
World of Warcraft Deemed as Addictive as Crack Cocaine
The Daily Mailreports that Sweden's Youth Care Foundation believe World of Warcraft is dangerous. The report follows news that a boy collapsed after playing Warcraft for 24 consecutive hours.
However, a report from Sweden's Youth Care Foundation describes it as 'the most dangerous game on the market'.
The report's author Sven Rollenhagen said: 'There is not a single case of game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not played a part.
'It is the crack cocaine of the computer game world. Some will play it till they drop.'
The Swedish National Institute of Public Health has backed the report, adding: 'Computer game addiction is becoming more widespread across the world.'
The warning comes after a Swedish boy of 15 collapsed after playing it for for 24 hours earlier this month.
The Daily Mail also says that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one to two hours per day of "screen time" for Warcraft. People can get addicted to just about anything. If Warcraft is something that causes certain people problems then maybe they should avoid video games. Warcraft has been around long enough now that it is clear that most people aren't playing Warcraft until they are exhausted and then collapsing on the ground.
These two from ManaPotions hooked up treadmills to World of Warcraft and ran a brutal race from Shadowglen to Darnassus. Who says gaming isn't healthy? More details on this here.
The Associated Press says to call it a "thinking gamer's Halo." The prequel Halo Wars whic is set in the fictional Halo world is due out in 2009 for the Xbox. The strategy game puts the Covenant armies up against the United Nations Space Command (UNSC). The Wikipedia entry says players will be able to play as the alien Covenant. You can view some Halo Wars trailers here and view the official community website here.
Some data is startng to emerge about the massive size of the gold farming industry which is mostly based in China. Small firms use cheap labor to gather gold and to build-up characters for games like World of Warcraft and then resell them. Some gold farms will also take control of person's characer and build up the character's experience and gold - this is known as power levelling. A BBC article says the industry employs about 500,000 people.
Research by Manchester University shows that the practice, known as gold-farming, is growing rapidly.
The industry, about 80% based in China, employs about 400,000 people who earn £77 per month on average.
The practice is flourishing despite efforts by games companies to crack down on the trade in virtual goods.
Professor Richard Heeks, the author of the report, says it is hard to pinpoint the exact size of this rapidly developing industry.
Some gold-farming operations offer other services such as "power levelling" in which they assume control of a player's character and turn it into a high-powered hero far faster than the original owner could manage themselves.
Prof Heeks said very accurate figures for the size of the gold farming sector were hard to come by but his work suggested that in 2008 it employs 400,000 people who earn an average of $145 (£77) per month creating a global market worth about $500m.
But, he said, the true size of the sector was hard to estimate - it could easily be twice as big.
As long as there are popular online games there are going to be systems that let players cheat to quickly build up a character. Some people with money to burn simply don't have the patience to slowly build a character's experience. That is the reason these gold farms are able to exist.
The winners of the 2007 Spike Video Game of the Year have been announced. BioShock took home the most awards with three wins including Game of the Year.
President Bush visited some veterans injured and Iraq and played war video games while he was there. One of the war games included a virtual Baghdad scenario.
Bush tried his hand at the game with two soldiers during a visit to a rehabilitation center in Texas that treats veterans wounded in Iraq.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush helped "shoot the bad guys" in a Baghdad neighborhood, albeit virtually.
She said the president saw several "cutting edge virtual reality games" that allow recovering soldiers at the center in San Antonio to simulate riding in a car or boat.
Apart from the computer game session, Bush's visit with badly wounded soldiers was often emotional as he spoke with patients who had lost limbs or suffered severe burns in the Iraq war.
As much as these video games represent what is happening in Iraq there is no risk of death or the risk losing a limb like our soldiers face on a daily basis in the real war.
The winners of the 2007 Game Critics Awards have been announced. Rock Band won the most awards of any games with three wins. Mass Effect won two awards. Electronic Arts led game publishers by winning six awards. Here is a list of this year's winners:
Game Developers Conference Underway in San Francisco
The Game Developers Conference is currently underway in San Francisco. Gamasutra is offering live coverage of the GDC. In the video included below, PodTech's Rio Pesino speaks with Game Developers Conference Manager Jane Pinckard about the event and whether its trying to be the new E3, which used to be gaming's biggest expo. She also explains the difference between the GDC and a E3 type of event. The event most likely to replace the E3 is the E for All Expo which is to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in October. The GDC does include the annual Game Developers Choice Awards at the conference and this year's winners will announced later today.
Moral Kombat: A Documentary on Video Game Violence
The Mercury Newsreports that a trailer is out for Moral Kombat, a new documentary by Spencer Halpin that takes an in-depth look at the often discussed issue of video game violence.
Spencer Halpin has been working on Moral Kombat, a documentary on video game violence, for a long time. He's finished the film and has posted this trailer for it on YouTube. Spence, the brother of Entertainment Consumers Association founder Hal Halpin, interviewed me for this film a while back at the Dice Summit in Las Vegas with a green screen behind me. I talked about the loss of my brother to real-life violence and how I can reconcile that with playing violent games. He's made the film a visual wonder by splicing in game footage in the background behind the interviewees. What's cool is not just the discussion but the melding of visual images that relate to what the interviewees are saying.
Joystiq hopes the documentary carries a balanced tone. GamePolitics has more background on the documentary. They say Spencer Halpin has been working on Moral Kombat for the past years and the budget was around $1 million. Here is the trailer for the documentary.
Rogers Cadenhead blogs that he won a battle vs. MGM to keep his domain WarGames.com. Cadenhead runs WarGames.com as an online store for military simulation gaming enthusiasts. MGM had tried to take the domain from Cadenhead because they owns a trademark related to the 1983 film WarGames and the upcoming sequel WarGames 2: The Dead Code. Cadenhead says he had to learn a lot about Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) to hang on to his domain.
When first contacted by MGM in September, I was certain that I would win a Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) case if my ownership of the domain was challenged. I didn't know much about the UDRP, having never been involved in one of these disputes in a decade of web publishing, but I understood that it existed to stop people from grabbing domains to profit on somebody else's trademark. I got Wargames.Com to sell wargames.
The more I learned about the UDRP, the less confidence I had in winning. Most disputes end in victories for trademark holders and there's a huge number of ways that domain owners have been judged to have acted in bad faith.
Where domain owners are concerned, the UDRP's a strange game where the only winning move is not to play.
Rogers Cadenhead says he now plans to write a book about his ordeal and UDRP. He should write the book -- its quite the strategic battle he had to wage against MGM. WarGames.com also looks like a great website for those into military pc and video games.
The BBC reports that the U.S. military is using a game called Tactical Iraqi to learn how to use Iraqi gestures and communicate better with Iraqis.
The program teaches military personnel some key gestures such as an up-down movement with the right hand to ask someone to slow down and gives them tips such as removing mirror sunglasses when approaching local people.
"In Iraq, to show sincerity you have to put more effort into your gestures," said Dr Vilhjalmsson.
"In Western countries, we control our body language more. In Arabic culture, it is important you show how open you are."
He added that reserved body language in exchanges with local people could be interpreted as having something to hide in Iraq, potentially escalating a tense situation.
Military personnel also learn that people can approach each other more closely than one normally might in the West.
It sounds like it could be helpful and the troops in Iraq can use all the help they can get. The game was built using the Unreal Tournament game engine, which is a first-person shooter game. Now it is being used for gesturing instead of shooting.
Black Hawk Down Game Includes Fonix Speech Interface
NovaLogic Inc. will release the Xbox and PlayStation2 versions of Delta Force - Black Hawk Down in Q2 2005. The game includes the Fonix VoiceIn speech interface to allow players to use voice commands. Set in Somalia in 1993 and based upon the Operation Restore Hope and Task Force Ranger campaigns, players will take on the role of an elite Delta Force Operator as they participate in daring raids against the oppressive Somali warlords in and around Mogadishu. Delta Force - Black Hawk Down offers both single player and multiplayer missions. Fonix's speech recognition interface was also used to enhance Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3, which received some good reviews. Rod Oracheski of Gamingworldx.com said, "Using the Communicator is as simple as it gets, gamers simply speak the orders. Though at first it feels a bit awkward to be talking to the television, the system works very well, even in the heat of battle."
Hollywood writer/director John Milius will be the screenwriting talent behind the WWII storyline of Medal of Honor European Assault, the latest from Medal of Honor franchise. A graduate of the prestigious USC film school, Milius shared an Academy Award nomination with Francis Ford Coppola for the screenplay of Apocalypse Now (1979) and is perhaps best known for writing and directing films such as Dillinger, Conan the Barbarian, and Red Dawn. Film fans may also recognize his signature style within the many memorable lines and scenes he's crafted including "Go ahead, make my day" for Dirty Harry (1971) and the U.S.S. Indianapolis scene in Jaws (1975). Dan Winters, the game's Executive Producer recently blogged about what it is like having Milius on board to write Medal of Honor: European Assault Blog:
He [John] is a huge history buff and knows basically everything about everything—seriously like a walking history encyclopedia, or at least it seems that way! And because the team here has all become big fans of WWII and military history, John's elaborate knowledge of history makes him a great match for the team. Sometimes, our best collaboration comes from him swinging by the studio in LA and having informal "shooting the breeze" conversations over sandwiches we have brought up from the cafeteria. We'll throw out an idea or a location that we were thinking about having in the game and he will just start spinning a story around it, literally seamlessly weaving the location into the storyline. Sometimes it seems that he knows sooooooo much that he must be making stuff up, not the case! If you try calling him on it (which we have on occasion) he will say, "Oh no, you should check out such and such book—they tell a really good version of that story." And you know what, his command of WWII history is amazing and he is always right and accurate -- he truly has an amazing presence and is an irreplaceable asset to the game.
In Medal of Honor European Assault gamers will play as US Army Lieutenant William Holt, hand-picked by William "Wild Bill" Donovan to be the first field agent of the newly formed Office of Strategic Services -- the OSS. As Lieutenant Holt, classified missions take place in WWII Europe and are of critical importance to the Allies. Gamers will be tasked with gathering intelligence regarding the development and deployment of the deadly Nazi Tiger Tank and more significantly, stopping the Nazi plan to develop and harness atomic energy. In the pursuit of this goal players are thrust into action in all the pivotal battles of WWII Europe, including St. Nazaire, North Africa, Stalingrad, and the Battle of the Bulge. Medal of Honor European Assault is scheduled to ship later this summer for the PlayStation2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube.
The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has announced the recipients of the 5th annual Game Developers Choice Awards at a ceremony during the 2005 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. Professional game developers around the world nominated and voted for the awards, free of charge, ensuring that the recipients reflect the community's opinions. Half-Life 2 continues to win awards and this was no exception at the Game Developers Conference. Half-Life 2's developers and writers won in the Best Game, Character Design, Technology and Writing categories. Katamari Damacy took home two awards in the Game Design and Innovation categories. Eugene Jarvis, a legendary arcade game developer, won the Lifetime Achievement award. A complete list of the winners can be found here.
Midway Games Inc. and Stainless Steel Studios are developing Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War, a new historical, real-time strategy game that is scheduled to ship in winter 2005. Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War is the latest creation from award-winning developer Stainless Steel Studios and renowned game designer Rick Goodman. The new game is a detailed real-time strategy game that lets players completely command one of the four mightiest empires of the ancient world: Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Persia. Rise & Fall allows players to fight alongside their troops as one of history's eight greatest heroes, and bring victory to their nation on the battlefield. Rick Goodman, president of Stainless Steel Studios, said, "With its unprecedented gameplay, historical accuracy and unique elements, Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War will be one of the most ambitious RTS games to date." Empires Heaven has an interview with Rick Goodman.
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS), a professional organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of interactive arts, has announced
the winners of this year's Interactive Achievement Awards. This is the 8th
year the organization has given awards for interactive entertainment. The
awards are extensive with 39 different categories. Half-Life 2, which won in the Game of the Year category, won nine awards total. Halo 2, which won in the Consule Game of the Year category, won four different awards. Click here for a complete list of this year's winners.
Atari Game Created With Help of Novelist, Film Footage
Atari, Inc.'s Act of War: Direct Action, a techno-thriller for
PC in March 2005, will have a story created and written by New York Times bestselling author Dale Brown and will feature nearly one hour of original feature film footage produced by SWAT Films/Beyond FX to vividly present the story. Bob Welch, Executive Producer for Atari's Beverly studio, said, "By bringing together a novelist, filmmakers and game developers, Act of War: Direct Action is more than the sum of its parts." The film production element of Act of War: Direct Action was shot over two weeks and featured a cast of 10 principal actors and hundreds of extras. The film footage will be blended with scenes created by the in-game engine to tell the story of Jason Richter and Task Force Talon as they discover a web of intrigue and terrorism that spans the globe from Moscow to Washington, D.C. Novels, films and games are already highly interconnected. Major films, especially big fantasy and science fiction films, often have computer and video game released when the film hits theatres.
Back in May, 2002 the U.S. Army launched its $7 million video game called America's Army. Since then over 4.3 million have registered to play the simulated combat adventure game. The Army says the game "is designed to
provide an accurate portrayal of soldier experiences across a number of
occupations. In the game, players will explore progressive individual and
collective training events within the game. Once they successfully
completed these events they will advance to multiplayer operations in small units." The game provides realistic weapons simulations, training experiences, combat experiences and War on Terror settings and scenarios. The game even provides for virtual jail sentences at Fort Leavenworth and a possible ban from the game
if players kill innocents or friendly troops. The Army wants to
promote teamwork and cooperation in the game -- just like soldiers would
need in combat. Through the game and its website
at americasarmy.com the U.S. Army also offers recruitment events and ongoing
tournaments. The game has been given the ESRB Teen rating, which
means ages 13 and up. However, the Seattle Timesreported
that some groups like Veterans for Peace, worry the game could be used a
recruitment tool on impressionable young teenagers. And some combat
veterans don't think games can accurately portray the real experience of
battle. In a recent article the Detroit News quoted Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Justin Day as saying, "no game accurately conveys the terror in
real combat." Still, the U.S. Army seems very pleased with the results of the game despite any shortcomings or criticism. In a May, 2004 story on the game News.com quoted Chris Chambers, deputy director of the America's Army project as saying, "It's a much more efficient and effective vehicle for the Army to provide information to young people than the other media we use."
Arts Technica 
Variety 
The Daily Mail 
The winners of the 2007 Spike Video Game of the Year have been announced. BioShock took home the most awards with three wins including Game of the Year.
President Bush 
The winners of the 2007 
The 
Rogers Cadenhead 
The BBC 
Hollywood writer/director John Milius will be the screenwriting talent behind the WWII storyline of 
The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has announced the recipients of the 5th annual Game Developers Choice Awards at a ceremony during the 2005 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. Professional game developers around the world nominated and voted for the awards, free of charge, ensuring that the recipients reflect the community's opinions. Half-Life 2 continues to win awards and this was no exception at the Game Developers Conference. Half-Life 2's developers and writers won in the Best Game, Character Design, Technology and Writing categories. Katamari Damacy took home two awards in the Game Design and Innovation categories. Eugene Jarvis, a legendary arcade game developer, won the Lifetime Achievement award. A complete list of the winners can be found 
Midway Games Inc. and Stainless Steel Studios are developing Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War, a new historical, real-time strategy game that is scheduled to ship in winter 2005. Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War is the latest creation from award-winning developer Stainless Steel Studios and renowned game designer Rick Goodman. The new game is a detailed real-time strategy game that lets players completely command one of the four mightiest empires of the ancient world: Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Persia. Rise & Fall allows players to fight alongside their troops as one of history's eight greatest heroes, and bring victory to their nation on the battlefield. Rick Goodman, president of Stainless Steel Studios, said, "With its unprecedented gameplay, historical accuracy and unique elements, Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War will be one of the most ambitious RTS games to date." Empires Heaven has an 
