The biz guys and legal folks at id Software and Activision are sighing a little bit of relief, the Columbine lawsuit against them has been dismissed in US District court. The lawyer for the family of Dave Sanders says that they will certainly file an appeal.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock granted motions to dismiss filed by Time Warner Inc. and Palm Pictures, as well as 11 video game makers, including Sony Computer Entertainment America, Activision and Id Software, the maker of "Doom." In his ruling, Babcock said there was no way the makers of violent games and movies could have reasonably foreseen that their products would cause the Columbine shooting or any other violent acts. "Setting aside any personal distaste, as I must, it is manifest that there is social utility in expressive and imaginative forms of entertainment, even if they contain violence," Babcock wrote

We've certainly had a few studies allegedly prove one way or another the influence of video games on people. The most recent trend in the past year has been that experts believe that games dont influence people. Even prompting an announcement by the US Surgeon General several months ago.

I for one would gamble to say that generally games and other forms of media do influence people like anything else in the world, but not to any degree further than anything else. However there are certainly sick people out there who can be abnormally and strongly influenced by just about anything. Be it something they see on the cartoon network, in a movie, or in a video game. Should those industries be blamed if a sick person tries to emulate something they saw or did in those products? No I dont think so. Will the victims and families of victims so upset over the senseless violence search desperately for somewhere to point the finger? Yes.

The BNETD project has been shut down (Thanks /.) after some legal threats sent in by Blizzard Entertainment. BNETD was basically a battle.net system emulator that was under the GNU/GPL license. Most recently people have been warezing copies of the Warcraft3 beta and playing it on private custom modified BNETD servers. Here's a bit of the notice from Blizzard:

The aforementioned site either hosts or distributes software which illegally modifies and/or alters Blizzard Entertainment copyrighted software or bypasses anti-circumvention technology, thereby infringing upon Blizzard Entertainment copyrights

Along with the noble efforts of creating private servers, what BNETD also did was enabled people to use illegal copies of Blizzard games and play them online easily without worrying about authenticating their CD key on the Blizzard master servers.

Retro Studios is looking for a game designer to work on Metroid Prime. If you're interested, check out the qualifications on the Careers section of www.retrostudios.com.

Here's some of those software piracy figures to ponder. According to this report video game piracy totaled about $2Billion in value over 2001. It's a pretty well known fact that there are a few countries where there are virtually no laws or enforcement of laws that prevent software piracy. Korea and China in particular.

The group is asking for U.S. trade officials to take action against 50 countries that the IIPA alleges do not do enough to stop software piracy, including the unauthorized copying of video and PC games, a fast growing market. According to IDSA figures, total U.S. sales of video games in 2001 were $6.35 billion.

"Lost" revenue is of course arguable, but there is no denying how rampant the piracy is overseas. Exactly what the IDSA is going to ask the U.S. trade officers to do to actually change any of this is anyones guess. Anyone seen any actual sales figures of software or games in those countries? How do the figures for piracy over there compare to the US figures?

The International Game Developers Association has announced their nominees for the annual Game Developers Choice Awards. Winners of these awards will be announced at the Game Developers Conference in March. Unlike the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awards where you have to buy yourself a membership to be able to vote and for your product to be considered (see also this article), the IGDA nominations are open and free for all professional game developers.
PC games make the nominations list several times, especially Black & White and Max Payne. Here's a two of the categories.

Game of the Year
BLACK & WHITE (Lionhead Studios)
GRAND THEFT AUTO III (DMA Design/Rockstar Games)
HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED (Bungie Studios)
ICO (Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.)
MAX PAYNE (Remedy Entertainment)

Excellence in Programming
Kazunori Yamauchi & team for physics in GRAN TURISMO 3 A-SPEC
Andy Gavin for programming in JAK & DAXTER: THE PRECURSOR LEGACY
Jason Jones & team for programming in HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED
Richard Evans for artificial intelligence in BLACK & WHITE
Sherman Archibald, John Carmack & Ryan Feltrin for graphics in RETURN TO CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN

Yesterday we had a thread about the whole games and real world economy stuff, discussing how much money is being tossed around because of EverQuest players and all that fun. Well I noticed the Diabloii.net guys mention that this whole thing is coming to an abrupt stop.

(story) Everquest has joined their Verified Rights Owners program and as such any items they own property rights to will be deleted. Searching 'Everquest' on eBay just now brings up plenty of 2nd hand CDs and games but no game items so it seems, true to the policy, they're purged. Search for Diablo II items though and it's a completely different story. The EULA for DII seems to state that characters and items are the property of Blizzard, which would preclude their sale, so perhaps we will soon see Blizzard following suit by joining the VeRO group as well.

There were some pretty good interesting posts in that thread yesterday actually touching on the legalities.

We've had this one sent in quite a few times. A recent study of the economics of EverQuest and real world money. As many people are aware there are a lot of gamers who sell their imaginary items and equipment acquired in a game online at eBay. This isnt just a passing fad though, it's pretty obvious that this will just get more and more popular. Check this out:

Castronova discovered that Norrath's gross national product per-capita is $2,266. If Norrath was a country, it would be the 77th most wealthy in the world, just behind Russia.

So then, here's my question. How soon until companies like Verant and Blizzard and Mythic decide to start selling items in their own game? Think it will ever happen?

Here's one to ponder for the day. Check out this article on CNET discussing the whole charging for online games thing. Discussion of those online card game things, the whole EverQuest thing, and those adver-games. Companies sponsoring the development of a game to promote their product. Now here comes the hook, I've just got this hunch that some time down the road game developers may start considering monthly fees for FPS action games. Probably something like $1-5 a month to keep cheaters away and continued support etc. The question:

- How would you react, and how do you feel the general gaming public would react, if every online FPS action game went to a small monthly fee and guaranteed cheat prevention and extra support. (New levels, new mods, etc) Assuming the first 1-3 months is free.

Personally.. I'd have to be really taken with a game to pay a monthly fee. I've never paid for any MMORPG games but obviously with all the subscribers out there that means people are willing to pay for a game they enjoy. The question being if that would carry over to action games that dont have the depth of RPGs. I'd probably pay.. for one, maybe two games tops.

Jason pointed the way to this really interesting history of videogames piece over on GameSpot for you folks to check out while we all sulk over the Oakland loss.

The history of video games is not just about people. It's also about companies and ironies. Atari was an American company with a Japanese name, and the Japanese company Sega was started by an American. Magnavox, the company that started it all, is owned by Phillips, a company that is over a century old, and Nintendo, the company that made video games popular again, is just as old. And who would have ever thought Sony, the company that invented all types of electronics, from transistor radios to video recorders, would release a video game console that would become its top-selling product of all time?

Great reading material, and nice to get a good laugh over things like the Virtual Boy all over again.

The Art Institutes International at San Francisco has announced that their Game Art & Design bachelor’s program is now underway. This program has been designed with input from companies like LucasArts, Sega of America, BioWare, Konami of America, PDI/DreamWorks and the International Game Developers Association. Here's what is being offered to those partaking in the program

The commercial art and design school is offering its unique new program to bring a new generation of talent to the computer and video game industry. Students in the Game Art & Design program study art fundamentals, 3D modeling, animation, texturing, scripting and other aspects of game level design. Courses include “Storytelling,” “3D Character Animation,” “3D Modeling,” “Life Drawing,” “Interface Design for Games” and “Interactive Game Prototyping,” as well as a variety of general education courses in mathematics, the social sciences, art history and the humanities.

A similiar program is being offered at The Art Institute of Los Angeles and The Art Institute of Phoenix. Will people with a degree in game design really have that much of an advantage over other people? Or will it still be about experience and just making cool things?

Remember that sillyness over in Indianapolis about trying to prevent minors from being able to play games? Something about thinking games turned kids in to psychos or whatever. Well as expected the failed attempt was a waste of time and money as the game industry won the case, and even more amusing now is that the court has awarded over $300,000 to the game industry for legal fees they incurred. Tax payers in Indiana, thank your local congressman! Thanks jasonepowell

Among the backers is Indianapolis retiree Mary E. Douglas, who said taxpayers foot the bill for many "nonsensible things," but that the ban was a worthwhile goal. "They shouldn't be allowed to play those games, period," Douglas said of minors. But Dave Danz, owner of the Indianapolis-based courier company Double D Express, called the law "a ridiculous waste of money." "It's up to us as parents to teach our children values. However well-intentioned it might be, it's not a function of the government to intervene," Danz said. "We're blowing taxpayer money at a time when we need to be looking at things like sewers."

An article on NYTimes discusses (Which I thought was linked earlier today, doh) something that appears to be rubbing some people the wrong way lately. Playing a game as the Nazi Axis team in games like RTCW and DoD. Thanks Matt for the reminder.

FEW taboos exist in the blood- and-gore world of shoot-'em-up video games. But game makers have traditionally respected one rule: no Nazi protagonists. Last year that rule was challenged on at least two fronts. In November, Activision released Return to Castle Wolfenstein, [...] The multiplayer version, which pits players against one another online, allows some players to fight as German soldiers. And even before Return to Castle Wolfenstein, another realistic first- person shooter with a Nazi protagonist was making a stir: Day of Defeat, which was released for online play last January.
[snip]
A recent scan of active Day of Defeat game servers revealed a list of Axis players with noms de guerre like Mein Kampf, HitlerYouth and ZyklonB, although it is hard to determine whether the names were chosen simply to get attention. In a recent game, a player on the German side using the name AnneFrank was questioned about that moniker. "Oh, you know," the player said. "I'm just trying to keep things spicy."

There was a big stink about playing a terrorist in Counter-Strike, so I guess it's only expected that they start making a stink about this too. There have been games, movies, and songs from the side of the "bad guys" for years. I guess what makes games different though is that you are actually in control of the actions. Whadya guys think? Is there ever really an amount of time for "healing" that makes playing the part of a Nazi or Terrorist acceptable?

Sad news today, as we've lost another one. Stomped.com is closing up shop and calling it a day. The announcement was planned for a little later than now, but with the recent DB server crash it looks like Gary (the owner) decided to go ahead an announce it now. Here is an interview with the announcement.

We tried the PayPal route, but the results were disappointing to say the least. (While some were very supportive, it's was a small minority). As the revenue dried up we had to cut costs which meant letting more people go. With you, Aurora and Redwood being let go, our readership pretty much dried up. It has reached the point where it really isn't worth while keeping the site active. We still have equipment we have to maintain and rack fees for our co-host. I kept the site up probably longer than I should have from a business standpoint, but its reached its limit.
[snip]
We could focus on our LAN center, which brings in actual real money and has gotten a lot of attention from the business community, or we could struggle to keep our head above water trying to run a "news" website.

Stomped.com started around the same time we did here. It's one thing to see those flash in the pan websites come and go as they often do, but when a place like Stomped decides to call it quits, scary. Good luck to the Stomped guys and StompingGrounds LAN Center, which is making money. :)

It's wacky legal fun day! Check out this story about lawmakers in Florida trying to get GTA3 put behind counters next to the Playboys and Maximum Booty.

What better way to celebrate the day after Christmas than with a holiday lawsuit? Take-Two which also encompasses Gathering of Developers has been cited by a legal firm as well as another one here for misleading investors with their financial reports. Thanks B-RAD

Law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP has filed suit against Take-Two Interactive on behalf of stock purchasers on the basis that releases and reports made by the company, in essence, padded the company's financial standing.
[snip]
If you bought the securities of Take-Two between February 24, 2000 and December 17, 2001 you may, no later than February 18, 2002, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff.

Take2 has published recently GTA3 (through Rockstar) , Serious Sam , Max Payne , and Myth3 among other things this year.

UGO has a good interview with the Founder/CEO of G4 Media, the upcoming all-gaming TV network Charles Hirschhorn. Charles actually developed In Living Color. Remember when that was the cool show? (Well, to some people...)

UGO: Where do you see G4, as a brand and a channel, in the next five years?
CH: The video game industry continues to grow so rapidly. I hope G4 can help serve as a catalyst to support this large community including gamers, developers, publishers, manufacturers, retailers, magazines and websites.

Well, either that or it'll flop. I'm hoping for success. :)

We saw some good numbers the other day about the gaming industry as a whole growing by an impressive 19% in revenue, well here's some PC-centric figures to look at. 47 million people played PC games in October alone. The growth of PC gamers continues to rise, although the growth of general PC users is even bigger so it's kinda diluting things. Another interesting report from the Metrix guys is that half of the gamers out there are picking up a new console system and some info on getting those consoles online

the number of households owning a gaming console connected to the Internet will increase to 12.3 million by 2006 (up from 700,000 households in 2000), online PC games will continue to account for the lion's share of gaming subscription revenue. Jupiter projects that subscription revenues from online PC games will total 1.5 billion dollars by 2006, while subscription revenues from connected console gaming will only reach 250 million dollars in the same period.

Nintendo put out another PR saying how well they are selling as they compete with Microsoft for releasing the most impressive sounding PR. They go over recent sales figures etc saying Smash Brothers has sold over a quarter million in just 9 days. But here is the stat that really grabbed me:

The video game industry overall is hotter than ever, with total 2001 retail revenues now on track to exceed $8 billion for the first time ever (+19% vs. 2000).

19% growth in sales for the entire industry in just one year? Great googly moogly!

SunSpot.net has an article describing the job of some guys who get to try to crack game codes (Thanks GG) for GameShark for up to $60,000 a year in salary. It's pretty interesting reading and honestly not something I ever thought about. Didnt realize they just had a bunch of guys hacking away on games figuring out codes. But I guess that's what ya gotta do.

So far this group of a half-dozen programmers has cranked out more than 23,000 codes that cover nearly every game on the market. As many as 2 million visitors a month log in to grab the latest codes from the company's Web site, www.gameshark.com.

It's a niche business off the radar screens of anyone but hard-core gamers, but it's profitable. It's also a contentious arena at times, because game publishers aren't always thrilled at having their creations "hacked" and played in ways they didn't intend. [snip]

Well look at this, according to ShackES a recent WCG tournament (Similar to the CPL) which featured about $300,000 in cash being given out last weekend made the front pages of several Taiwan newspapers. Not for giving money to computer geeks though, but because one of the winners waved what the Chinese government feels was the wrong flag. Here is some of the story lifted from Matt:

IamKmkm_tw, the Taiwanese winner of the Age of Empires 2 tournament at the World Cyber Games, has been harshly criticized by WCG for shouting "Taiwan number one!" and waving his country's flag at the award ceremony where he was awarded a gold medal for his sterling performance.  A Chinese reporter for the state-owned CCTV saw the action and complained to event organizers, who have since denounced the actions of the player, 17-year-old Tseng Jeng-cheng. China doesn't ever like to see the Taiwanese flag displayed and has exerted its world political influence to have it removed from the Olympic Games. Taiwan has been an independent country for 52 years but China believes Taiwan (aka the Republic of China, aka Chinese Taipei as it was called at WCG) is still a Chinese terroritory.

You can check out this story in the LATimes - "China's communist leaders believe that by displaying the flag, Taiwanese are asserting their independence" which I guess is a bad thing.