Gadgets and Video Games

[ Joe King ] Rhode Island bill S.2156 ( PDF ) is silly … ( How silly is it?

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ESA says Rhode Island game bill is unconstitutional, Jack Thompson … agrees?

Immediately following his well-attended GDC panel , Nintendo’s Yoshio Sakamoto talked with us about (what else?) Metroid: Other M . In addition to all sorts of questions on the unique Team Ninja collaboration, we asked Sakamoto about the long-rumored Metroid Dread project and, barring a confirmation of that product, when we’d see another 2D handheld Metroid. Joystiq: Speaking of the core Metroid development team that last worked on the GBA, there have been rumors of a game known as ‘Metroid Dread’ – purportedly a 2D Metroid game for DS

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Metroid Dread concept is something Sakamoto ‘can’t say never existed’

Fantasy author R.A. Salvatore took the stage at GDC 2010 today and, while he made it clear that his talk about how to create believable fantasy worlds wasn’t specifically about his work with 38 Studios’ Copernicus project , he did talk a little bit about what he wants from an MMO game and gave the first mention of what the world of Curt Schiller’s game is like. Salvatore talked for quite a while in his thick Massachusetts accent about his time in Everquest , which he said was “the best world in a game I’ve ever seen.” He also lauded the idea of a death penalty in an MMO, and said that during his formative MMO experiences the threat of death (he once lost a hard-earned level when he was killed by an NPC that he accidentally clicked to attack) made living that much better. “If you take the pain out of the world,” he said, “you lose the accomplishment of winning.” And while he admitted that the Copernicus designers were fighting with him on whether or not to include a death penalty in the game, the company would at least make sure that a return from death was explained. His team has written over 10,000 years of history for the game’s world (all compiled on “a wiki with over hundreds of pages in it”), and one of the major features of the setting’s lore is a “device that’s perfected” called the “Well of Souls.” The Well, “when you die, will bring you back — if you meet the conditions.” He didn’t elaborate about what those conditions were, but he asked the audience what a worldwide death-prevention device would do to institutions like kings and religions.

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GDC: R.A. Salvatore wants you to die

We have to give it to College Humor , they know how to hold up a satirical mirror to video game conventions and culture. Whether to show the horror inflicted upon The Sims or the pervasive nature of l33t speak. What’s interesting about College Humor’s latest video, “The Video Game Bosses’ Lament,” is that the site created a retort for the problems management had with the help two years ago. In ” Bowser’s Minions ,” from mid-2008, it’s the hired help who have the last laugh. Anyway, if you want to hear management’s issues, check it out after the break.

Continued here:
College Humor reveals the ‘Video Game Bosses’ Lament’

Sony Worldwide Studios VP Scott Rohde had the onerous task of introducing the first PlayStation Move games at Sony’s GDC press conference last night. We caught up with the executive after the show to talk about Sony’s plans for exploiting motion control and if hardcore gamers should be concerned about the future of the PS3 games library. Our complete interview with Rohde follows: It’s obviously going to take internal resources to develop games for PlayStation Move

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Interview: Sony’s Scott Rohde on PlayStation Move

Oh man, EA’s pursuit of Modern Warfare 2 just got hot , as DICE has announced via the Battlefield Blog that on March 30 — the same day the Stimulus Package DLC will boost Modern Warfare 2’s map count — Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s VIP members will receive the free “VIP Map Pack 2,” which adds a Conquest mode scenario to the Arica Harbor map and Rush mode to Laguna Presa. Both maps aren’t new to the game, however neither has been available for play in the “unlocked” game modes noted above. So, that kinda qualifies as a “map pack,” right?

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Bad Company 2 to offer free March 30 ‘mapathy’ cure

Almost a year ago, a trademark for “Crafting Mama” was spotted. It’s now being put to use, as Majesco has announced, well, Crafting Mama for DS. In her latest endeavor, Mama will occupy her seemingly endless time with a new task: arts & crafts

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Majesco cooks up Crafting Mama for DS

The highlight of yesterday’s GDC Serious Game Summit panels focused on an appropriately consequential topic: How games can help protect children from the commonplace dangers they face from predators, both online and off. The panel was led by Child Safety Research and Innovation Center president Allan McCullough — a man who’s strived to develop games which teach young people how to identify and avoid dangerous situations. The two Flash-based games which represent the fruits of McCullough’s two decades of labor look deceptively simple on the surface

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GDC: Making games to prevent violence against children

Sweet Shiva, the Final Fantasy XIII reviews are all over the place . What has been clear over the past couple years is that the Japanese RPG has been going through some seriously violent flux. The genre is trying to find a new path, and even as Japanese developers seem to search for a balance that’ll please several markets, they’re freaking out western reviewers and audiences, who have a certain expectation going into these games — a fault of fans, as much as decades of ingrained convention by those developers

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Metareview: Final Fantasy XIII

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