You walk into the front door and you're met with wall to wall nerdgasm. The shop is filled with the musty smell of old electronics. Every single nook and cranny is lined with games for every system you could dream of, and a few you never knew existed. ToyRatt in Milton, Ontario is one of those rare gems. Their staff is driven by a passion for vintage video games. You can chill out with them, talk games, or even play a few with your fellow geeks on their big screen TV. Something that future generations may be denied if Sony and Microsoft get their way.

Today, Edge leaked a report suggesting that the Xbox Durango may ban the use of used games. When you purchase a disc copy, its specific serial number would be forever tied to your Xbox Live account. Sony recently patented a similar system to block out used games.

The used video game market has been around for as long as gaming has been around. However, game publishers have suddenly begun to equate it to piracy. When you buy a used game, publishers never see a dime from that sale.

For retailers like GameStop, the sale of second-hand games is big business. Profit margins on new games are  thin. A friend who owns a computer shop sold games at one point. At the time he was only making $5 for every copy. He didn't sell enough to make it worth while so they were taken off the shelf. Retailers like GameStop and Best Buy have the same problem. Buying and selling used games is a good way to boost profits. Since they're cheaper to buy, it's a win-win for both retailers and budget minded gamers. Though many have accused GameStop of paying too little for used copies and selling them only a few dollars below MSRP. Which is partly why Microsoft and Sony have their panties in a knot.

Even if you hate GameStop, the loss of the used market would be a major infringement on consumers rights. If this becomes reality, video games would be the first ever industry to completely ban the sale of used items. Imagine how ludicrous it would be if eBay, Kijiji, Craigslist and Autotrader were shut down. If Goodwill could no longer accept donations because sales of used clothes aren't going to labels. It's all silly but that's the point we've gotten too in our greedy, materialistic corporate culture.

Worse still, it would kill the soul of gaming. For years, gamers have been buying, selling, renting, and trading  to grow their collections and fuel their obsession. Stores like ToyRatt aren't GameStop. They're run by a couple of guys or girls who just live and love video games. They're not greedy corporate monsters. If the industry bans used games, they'd be put out of business. Classic yet unpopular titles would die quick deaths in favour of bland shooters that sell lots but hardcore gamers hate. Once the servers go down and the discs stopped getting pressed, it's curtain call. Many great games I've discovered I've found in used bins. The loss would cheapen the art form by denying so many fantastic titles the appreciation they deserve.

What about the PC market? Used games have been defacto banned on that platform for years. Which is true except for one catch. PC games tend to be substantially cheaper than console games, and they tend to go on sale more often. Also many disc based PC games have moved away from DRM which ties copies to specific accounts or hardware. The Spore debacle and the revolt of casual games four years ago caused a paradigm shift regarding this style of copy protection. So used PC gaming has potential for a comeback.

Lets keep our vibrant culture alive by retaining the used market, help protect small used game shops, and let Microsoft and Sony know what you think of their plans. Tweet @Xbox and @Playstation to ensure that future gamers will have access to today's best games. Use #SaveUsedGames.

Nintendo import fans are once again out of luck. Nintendo has announced that the Wii U will be region locked. This isn't a big revelation for the company. Almost every single console to come out of Big N has been. Dating as far back to the classic toaster NES.

Nintendo is currently the only company that has mandatory region locks on their consoles. Both Sony and Microsoft give the choice to developers. The Playstation family is well known for being friendly to the import community, with few games being locked. Notable exceptions include games by Atlas, a big Japanese developer. In fact, it seems this feature is more favoured in Japan that it is by Western publishers.

It's a well known fact that Japanese gamers and otaku are being gouged on media. Resident Evil 6 for example sells for $20 more in its home country than it does in North America. For the same price in the US, you can buy the Resident Evil Anthology, which contains all six games in the series.

The purpose of region locking is simply to make money. More from Asia-Pacific gamers than we in the west. While one could argue the game costs the same or more due to import duties, publishers get less of that money. It also explains why Nintendo has been so hostile to digital download. All a Japanese gamer would need is a North American gift card to grab the game at a significantly cheaper price.

This is a big letdown for import fans. Many popular games don't get global releases for one reason or another. Xenoblade Chronicles was launched in North America a full two years after it's Japanese debut. It's also unfortunate that Nintendo keeps making this choice instead of embracing globalization. Instead they'd rather keep screwing Japanese gamers with artificially higher prices.

There's been a lot of talk about the SOPA bill lately. For those who don't know, this is also known as the Stop Online Piracy Act. It's a sweeping piece of legislation that would effectively give private entities the power to remove websites from the internet. It's also pits content producers at war with content providers.

SOPA and it's companion PROTECT IP bill promise to curtail "foreign" piracy of copyrighted content. However, the bill as it is remains far too vague and open to interpretation. Due process through the courts is not required for the government to pull a site. An accusation of copyright infringement is all it requires. It would allow private corporations free reign to censor the internet. In many ways, it is not dissimilar to China's Great Firewall.

This presents a huge threat to sites like Google, YouTube, and Facebook, as well as smaller internet entrepreneurs like Channel Awesome, and MMNTech. While it is an American bill, the internet community has chosen to draw the line here. Other countries are also contemplating similar legislation.

I oppose all attempts to censor the free flow of knowledge in any form. Our society relies on this to grow, and the internet is the best tool we have today for this. While piracy may be a problem, SOPA opens far too big a loophole for abuse and should be scrapped entirely. It was a bill drafted and supported by only a hand full of media conglomerates. They are the only ones that stands to benefit this, should it become law. 

If you live in the United States, please take the time to write your congressional representatives and tell them that you oppose the bill. The Obama administration has already come out against the bill, and I applaud them for doing so.

If you have the time, it may also be worth it to let SOPA's supporters know that you oppose their attempt to censor the Internet. A complete list can be found below.

Many websites including Wikipedia and Reddit will be taking action against the bill on January 18th. They will switch off for the day in protest. MMNtech supports them in their endeavours.

SOPA supporters:

• ABC
• BMI
• CBS
• Comcast/NBCUniversal
• Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc.
• EMI Music Publishing
• Entertainment Software Association
• ESPN
• Major League Baseball
• Marvel Entertainment, LLC
• MasterCard Worldwide
• Motion Picture Association of America
• National Cable & Telecommunications Association
• National Football League
• News Corporation
• Random House
• Scholastic, Inc.
• Sony/ATV Music Publishing
• Sony Music Entertainment
• Time Warner
• Universal Music
• Universal Music Publishing Group
• Viacom
• Visa Inc.
• Warner Music Group
• Entertainment Software Association

Sony's changed the PSN terms of service to include a "don't sue us" clause. Basically, by agreeing, you're now forced into binding arbitration should you have a dispute with any Sony entity.

According to the new user agreement for the Playstation Network...

"Other than those matters listed in the Exclusions from Arbitration clause (small claims), you and the Sony Entity that you have a Dispute with agree to seek resolution of the Dispute only through arbitration of that Dispute in accordance with the terms of this Section 15, and not litigate any Dispute in court. Arbitration means that the Dispute will be resolved by a neutral arbitrator instead of in a court by a judge or jury."

Of course you can opt out, by doing things the good old 1950s way.

"RIGHT TO OPT OUT OF BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER WITHIN 30 DAYS. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THE BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER IN THIS SECTION 15, YOU MUST NOTIFY SNEI IN WRITING WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE DATE THAT YOU ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT. YOUR WRITTEN NOTIFICATION MUST BE MAILED TO 6080 CENTER DRIVE, 10TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90045, ATTN: LEGAL DEPARTMENT/ARBITRATION AND MUST INCLUDE: (1) YOUR NAME, (2) YOUR ADDRESS, (3) YOUR PSN ACCOUNT NUMBER, IF YOU HAVE ONE, AND (4) A CLEAR STATEMENT THAT YOU DO NOT WISH TO RESOLVE DISPUTES WITH ANY SONY ENTITY THROUGH ARBITRATION."

In order to keep using PSN, Sony is making you agree to these new terms. It's pretty sneaky for them to bury this at the bottom of the terms of service. That whole security breach really stirred up a legal hornet's nest, so looks like they're trying to cover their asses. Naturally, this is the likely result of the class action that emerged after all those credit card numbers were stolen.

This is a good example of the problem with EULAs. Long winded, convoluted contracts that people are expected to "sign" without really understanding what anything in them means. Mind you, this won't effect most people using the service. It just seems a tad unethical to sneak things through like that without first consulting consumers. As if Sony needed a legal advantage if they screw up. What with their legions high priced lawyers crawling out of every crack.


Phoenix Wright copyright Capcom

People complain about realism in games. I often find myself screaming at the TV because the game did something I didn't think was realistic. What if there was a game exactly like reality? Such a game does exist. It's called Desert Bus, and it's a piece of sheer mind-numbing brilliance.

The title itself is a legend in the gaming community. Penn & Teller planned to include it with their 1995 Sega CD game Smoke and Mirrors. It was never released to the public and was largely forgotten. A bootleg version ended up on the internet some time later.

Desert Bus was a brilliant piece of political satire. It was the brain child of Eddie Gorodetsky, later producer of the "winning" sitcom Two and a Half Men. The game was a response to the violent video game controversy of the mid-90s. The attacks on the gaming industry were largely being driven by then US Attorney General Janet Reno. Gorodetsky wanted to make a game so dull and bland that even Reno would be pleased. As the intro video points out, why waste money on fantasy when you can learn skills valuable to your pathetic life.


You drive a bus non-stop between Tucson, Arizona and Las Vegas. You travel along an empty desert highway with no other traffic on the road. There are bus stops, but nobody gets on or off. The bus is also governed to 45mph. At this speed, the trip takes a mind-numbing 8 hours to complete. To top it off, the bus pulls to the right, making impossible to set and forget. Should you veer off the road, a tow trucks comes and drags you back to Tucson, in real time. You can't pause the game either. Hitting "Start" only honks the horn.

Desert Bus forces you to play it from start to finish. Should you actually get to Vegas, you get a single point and the option of driving back to Tucson.


Desert Bus would have been a foot note in video game history. Then in 2007, Canadian comedy group LoadingReadingRun decided to play it, non-stop for charity.

The money went to Child's Play, a charity that buys video games and toys for childrens' hospitals around the world. In the first year, they raised $22,805 and played the game for 4 days and 12hr strait. Penn & Teller have been avid supports of the event, now known as Desert Bus for Hope. The event has raised almost $210,000 over the past four years.

Video games did not cause the Arizona Massacre. Though some politicians are trying to tie them to the alleged shooting of US congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords by Jared Loughner. Republican representative Tim Murphy had this to say on the subject on CNN's State of the Union.

"This is something we have to pay attention to. Look, as we're trying to piece together what happened in Arizona, unfortunately, people are going at the low-hanging fruit and they're blaming political discourse, which may have some role in the underlying aspects here, but we also need to look at there will be other things that come out - the music, the video games, the social ways that people handle anger."

I don't usually post political comments on MMNTech, but this issue bothers me. Study after study shows there is no link between video games and violence. Loughner plays violent video games. So do a lot of other people. It's such a common activity, it's hard to find someone in that age group that hasn't.


Blaming video games or the media for violent attacks shows ignorance. People on both the left and right display a poor understanding of mental illness. That's what likely caused the shooting. It's shameful and detracts from the real issue. Nobody got this man the help he needed, despite the obvious signs. We desperately need to reassess the way we diagnose and treat mental illness in North America. Stop scapegoating society and culture for the government's failures.

Source: Kotaku

The extreme approach to DRM had failed on two fronts. It has not stopped increasingly brazen pirates. It's also angered paying customers to the point where they abandon the platform or turn to piracy. Publishers are not going to abandon copy protection on their products. But they're going to have to consider changing tactics. Let's look at a few alternative DRM system and see how they measure up in fairness and protection.

The No-DRM Method (aka The Honour System)
This method has been advocated by Sins of a Solar Empire publisher Stardock games. It's pretty self-explanatory. The single player game has no DRM while multiplayer requires a CD key. Stardock has blasted it's competitors DRM in the past. Even to the point of publishing a "Gamers Bill of Rights". The game does require you to register your legitimate copy with Stardock to purchase expansions or get patches. The system is by far the most user friendly. No keys to input, no install limits. However, the game remains wide open to piracy. Sins still sold quite well though. The game itself wasn't exactly a mainstream title so it could fly under the radar. This method works best for indie titles but isn't going to work for blockbuster releases.

Advantages:
-Most user friendly

Disadvantages
-Leaves it wide open to piracy
-Only practical for smaller releases and indie games


CD Keys and Disc-In-Drive
This is the DRM system that most old-school gamers are familiar with. When you bought a game, it had a key tied to it. Usually printed in the manual. You had to entre a valid key when you installed the game. Otherwise, it refused to work. The game disc also had to be in the drive in order to play it, just like with consoles. The CD Key method is by far the most commonly used DRM system today. Most non-gaming software including Windows still uses it. It has become less common for games. Fallout 3 is one notable title that still uses it. It's simple and it works. However, it's fairly easy to find pirated keys available online that circumvent activation.

Advantages:
-User friendly
-Tried and true method

Disadvantages:
-Relatively easy to circumvent

Steam
Valve Software launched Steam as the DRM method of choice for Half Life 2. Since 2005, the system has exploded into one of the most popular gaming stores online. It wouldn't be a stretch to call it the iTunes of video games, since it works in the same way. In order to use it, you must sign up for a Steam account and download the client software. You then purchase games through the Steam Store, which are downloaded directly to your computer.

The games are tagged to your user account and can be installed an unlimited number of times on an unlimited number of systems. Steam also lets you make disc based backups of games. So you don't need to re-download them if they're uninstalled. It still requires an internet connection but you only have to be connected to boot the game. In the last couple of years, it's become the dominant service for gamers. Mainly due to the ease of purchase and frequent sales the store has.

The system is not perfect though. Steam does allow third party DRM systems to be used with their titles. The store does list what these restrictions are, which is a major step up. Therefore, gamers know which titles to avoid. You also still need an internet connection and download times are lengthly. Steam doesn't have boxed games. Furthermore, if Steam should close down its servers, the games you have become unplayable.

Advantages
-Relatively user friendly
-Online distribution offers easy, one stop shopping
-DRM isn't intrusive
-Discloses DRM limitations if any

Disadvantages
-Still allows 3rd party DRM on some games, such as Assassin's Creed II and Wings of Prey
-Requires an internet connection
-Download times can be lengthly
-Games become unplayable should servers shut down

Is DRM killing PC gaming? UBIsoft is currently rolling out a new DRM system which other game publishers are looking to copy. It takes advantage of cloud computing. While it supports unlimited installs and off site storage of games, it requires a rock solid internet connection. If your internet goes down (which it often does), you're booted out of the game. It applies to single player and multi-player titles. Assassin's Creed II will be the first PC game to use this system.

Of course the gaming boards are buzzing about it. Not in a good way, naturally. It's the latest salvo fired in an ongoing war between publishers and pirates. A war with legitimate gamers caught in the middle. They take the brunt of the damage as each side struggles to get the upper hand.

Penny Arcade's Jerry "Tycho" Holkins discussed what's been going on.
"The trouble is that this dialogue between pirates and publishers, one which was always characterized by falsehood and ill-will, has ceased to exist in this case. A maneuver this extreme means that they're finished talking altogether: this mechanism is their response, the final word. Only it's impossible to get the final word here in The Cloud. Ever." He summed it up best in two words. "Nobody wins"

Unfortunately, this is moving the PC gaming industry towards self destruction. In recent years, the PC gaming market has collapsed. A large number of PC gamers have fled to consoles. Sales have plummeted and studios have closed up. There are vary few PC exclusive game studios still in existence.

There has been no serious discussion on the issue. Both sides have taken a reactionary stance. The industry has made its reasoning quite clear. The pirates though are just as vocal and unashamed of what they do. There are plenty of reasons why people pirate. Some do it because they can't afford games. Others see it are a challenge. The rest just refuse to pay for games period. They are thieves regardless of their motives. We can admit right now that it is a problem.

The people who get left out of the discussion entirely are legitimate gamers. Those who actually pay for the game and always will. The silent majority of PC gamers.

Some argue that DRM is no different from locking a door to keep criminals out. But imagine having a security guard pat you down each time you leave a store. Just to make sure you're not shoplifting. Well, some people stole some socks so the store would have legitimate reason for protecting their stock. However, it is an extreme response. It will catch a few thieves but it violates the rights of the consumer. In the end, the paying customer won't put up with the harassment. They'll refuse to shop at that store, or worse, sue them. That's what happened to EA back in 2008 over Spore's DRM.

Obviously nobody can expect publishers to abandon copy protection. They're not no matter how much gamers complain. The question is how we can create a system that's fair to the legitimate gamers. First of all, publishers have to open a dialogue with that silent majority. Some inroads have been made but UBI's move is a huge step back. Perhaps it's time to look beyond SecuROM et al and look at some alternative systems. We'll do that in part 2.

Feeling a little bloated and sad lately? Your PS3 or Xbox 360 might be your "X Factor" according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to a study by the CDC in conjunction with Andrews University and Emory University, it was found that gamers on average are 35 years of age, overweight, and prone to depression. 552 people between the ages of 19 and 90 in the Seattle-Tacoma region of Washington State were surveyed. 249 respondents reported themselves to be gamers with 56% of them being male. Men who played games were found to be heavier than their non-gamer counterparts and also reported higher levels of Internet usage than society at large. Female gamers showed higher occurrences of clinical depression and were found to be generally less healthy than non-gaming women.

"Health risk factors differentiated adult video game players from non-players," National Center for Health Marketing researcher James Weaver said in a statement. "Video game players also reported lower extroversion, consistent with research on adolescents that linked video game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status, and to mental-health concerns." The CDC equated gaming to "digital self-medication" citing that people play games to "literally take their mind of their worries."

Critics have attacked this study due to the relatively small sample size and its limits to a single geographical area. In a country as vast as the United States, life styles and attitudes vary widely from coast to coast. Health concerns over video games are nothing new. They have been blamed for rising obesity rates among children over the past decade. Similar parallels can be drawn to studies on children and television in the 1950s, when TV was believed to cause similar mental health problems. Rather than being the problem, video game addictions are a symptom of much larger issues that the health care systems in a wide variety of countries have failed to address, forcing people to find methods to self-medicate mental health problems. Rather than blame the medium, the medical community needs to look inward as to how it can offer better mental health support.

Source: DailyTech

Loonie to reach parity by year-end: TD Securities

Infamous at Best Buy Canada $69.99

Infamous at Best Buy America $59.99

In case you're wondering, according to today's exchange rate Infamous should be selling in Canada for a cool $66. Ok, not much of a savings but I have noticed that the price of games went up a lot faster when the Canadian dollar dropped than they did when the reverse happened back in 2007. I'm not picking on Best Buy in particular here because all game retailers have started doing this. I've even seen older titles like Ratchet & Clank Future going back up to $70, and don't tell me those are all new units. They wonder why so many people are buying used games. Comparatively speaking, games are a lot cheaper today then they were 15 years ago. I saved up all year to buy Sonic & Knuckles back in 1994, which was $70 when it came out. That works out to be $93 in today's money. Still, buying new games are prohibitively expensive for most. That's something that developers need to realize as they move to kill the used market and switch to a download-only format. I personally think games should drop $10 on average to make them more comparable with DVD and Blu-ray movies. While companies would get less revenue per game sold, they could potentially get more volume sales and curb the used market that they've been so hostile toward.

Tech giant Qualcomm and startup Zeebo unveiled what they're dubbing as the "fourth console" at GDC 09 yesterday. The companies are hoping to tap into the so called developing market by making an affordable console while at the same time curtailing software piracy. The system, simply named Zeebo, is set to launch in Brazil next week for the retail price of $200 USD. It will be released in Eastern Europe, Mexico, and India in 2010 and will be made available in China in 2011. The system is about the size of a Wii. It is equipped with a 528MHz ARM 11 processor, the same used in many mobile phones, and a Qualcomm Adreno 130 IGP. The system includes 1GB internal NAND flash memory (enough for 50 games), 128MB of DDR SDRAM, a gamepad, three USB 2.0 ports, and an SD slot. Max screen resolution is 640x480. Graphics are said to be somewhere in between the PS1 and PS2, or in other words the same quality as PSP and Nintendo DS games.

The Zeebo is the first console to completely do away with discs, or any other type of removable media for that matter. It is 3G equipped allowing for wireless downloads of games. Content will only be offered through the system's proprietary ZeeboNet servers. 15 games will be made available on launch with 30 more being offered within 90 days after. Each game will retail for $12. This is being done to lure gamers away from the lucrative black market, which sells pirated games for contemporary consoles for just $10 a piece. Downloads are all pre-paid just as they are on PSN, Wii, and XBL. Games will only work with the users unique console ID and their account. Expect this DRM scheme to be cracked pretty quickly. The system will launch with four embedded games: FIFA 09, Need for Speed Carbon, Brain Challenge, and Prey Evil. Major game publishers Namco, THQ, Capcom, EA, Activision, and ID Software have latched onto the console.

Older consoles have traditionally preformed quite well in developing markets. The Sega Mastersystem for example sold well in Brazil right up until the late 90s. In these countries, contemporary consoles from the big three are often too costly, even for middle class individuals with comparable incomes to North Americans. A Wii for example costs the equivalent of $1000 USD in Argentina. The system is a good idea but I can't imagine it selling too well. The pirates will just lower their prices and the lure of being able to play the games "the rich" are playing is too much. Systems similar in concept have failed in the past. I also dislike the idea of doing away with removable media completely. I know that's the way the winds are blowing but I just feel uncomfortable with someone having that amount of control over my investments.

Source: The Register

Could Canada be the last Commonwealth country left on Earth that hasn't gone totally insane? I know, that's very difficult to believe. Recently, both Australia and New Zealand have been cracking down hard on tech offenders, often for some downright silly things. While Oz is planning to put up it's own Great Firewall to block out "offensive" websites, the Kiwis think buying M-rates games for minors should be a criminal offense worthy of jail time.

According to Bill Hastings, a New Zealand government official, the law is already in place though is currently not enforced. The current penalty is a $10,000 fine or three years in prison. Assuming NZ uses the same legal system as Canada does, that would make it an indictable (capital for US readers) offense. Hastings wants to enforce jail time as a form of "shock value" to discourage others from committing the crime. ""They might think the offense is silly, but it ain't," Hastings told the Dominion Post. (As a side note, there's something unsettling about a government official using the term "ain't" during a press conference.) "That's what the law says, but... you're not going to have police officers in every bedroom... There would certainly be some shock value to prosecuting a parent who gives their under-18 child access to a restricted game. It would send out a message that the enforcement agency means business. I think the word 'game' can mislead people for sure. It's not checkers. For the first time in history, kids are more savvy with technology than parents... parents need to get up to speed on the digital divide. They need to look at what their kids are playing and doing," he added.

There seems to be a disturbingly illiberal trend occurring in British Commonwealth countries recently towards widespread censorship and surveillance. As I said, Canada seems to be one of the few exceptions where this is not happening. That's not to say it couldn't happen. Most would probably agree it's wrong to give your child an M rated game but is that really worth putting someone behind bars, or even such a steep fine? Of course not. There has also been talk of doing similar things within the United States but for the most part it's fallen on deaf ears. It's not the same thing as buying alcohol, smokes, or a Swank and giving it to a minor. What's next, jail time for parents who let their kids watch R rated movies? Huge fines if their kid stumbles on your old Playboys? Give me a break.

Source: PSU

We all know that video games, along with AIDS and terrorism, are one of the major evils facing the modern world today. Or at least that's what people like Jack Thompson, Hilary Clinton, and now the UK government want you to believe. A new ad campaign seems to directly link gaming to early death. The ad is being funded by the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK, in partnership with the government. It shows a young boy sitting with a glazed look on his face holding a Playstation 3 controller. The caption reads "Risk an Early Death, Just Do Nothing".

Obesity is a major cause of illness and death in our society today and most certainly gaming can be a contributing factor if it's done in excess. However, the ad unfairly addresses the root cause of the problem. You can still play video games and lead an active lifestyle. The key is moderation. Telling kids they're going to die if they play games is not likely to have any real, lasting effects in solving issues of a sedentary lifestyle. Rather, they should be encouraging kids to get more active and to have fun doing so. It is now also possible to combine gaming with exercise, such as Wii Fit or Dance Dance Revolution. For many children and teens, organized sports or working out at the gym just doesn't have much appeal. Blaming games is just a cop out by educators and parents who have failed to give their children proper exercise and outdoor play.

Source: The Register

Update 03/10/09: Sony is considering suing the ad's creators for trademark infringement over the PS3 controller featured in the ad.

Since when did law suits become a viable revenue stream for corporations? It's no wonder our courts are clogged. Seems every body and their brother is suing each other, sometimes for widely frivolous things. So is the case of instrument legend Gibson who sued Activision and several major retailers in March 2008 over the Guitar Hero controller. Gibson claimed that the controller infringed on US Patent 5,990,405, which covers "a system and method for generating and controlling a simulated musical concert experience." "Specifically, it details a head-mounted display that includes stereo speakers and is worn while playing an instrument along with a simulated concert" according to CNET.

The US District Court ruled that "as a general observation, no reasonable person of ordinary skill in the relevant arts would interpret the '405 Patent as covering interactive video games," stating that it only applied to devices with an analogue output. The court noted that Gibson's interpretation of the patent could apply from everything from "button of a DVD remote...to a pencil tapping a table" and that the case "border on the frivolous." The case was thrown out of court. The saga isn't over though. Still before the courts are Gibson's suit against Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart for selling the controller. Rock Band publisher MTV, Harmonix, and Electronic Arts are also under Gibson's legal corsairs. I must admit it's rather humourous seeing the entertainment industry sued for "IP theft", but what Gibson is doing is still an unethical business practice none the less.

Source: CNET

As of this Monday, Electronic Arts will begin selling some of their most popular PC titles through Valve's popular Steam digital download service. What's more, they will be offered without third-party DRM. This means that SecuROM has been put out to pasture, provided you download the game from Valve. Titles offered include Spore, Warhammer Online, Need For Speed Undercover, FIFA Manager 09, Crysis, Crysis Warhead, and SiN. Mirror's Edge and Command and Conquer will also be added to the service in the next few months. Prices for the SecuROM-free games are on par with their boxed counterparts. Spore for example is currently selling for $50 US.

If you follow any sort of game news, you'll know that Electronic Arts suffered a major PR disaster due to the draconian limits placed on Spore. For many casual gamers, this was their first introduction to the DRM that has plagued most PC titles for some time now, and they didn't like it one bit. Originally, Spore was locked to no more than three user accounts (even if they were on the same machine) and phoned home bi-weekly to make sure you weren't using known pirated keys. Installs were not deauthorized if the game was uninstalled from the computer as well. (This was done in my opinion to stop the lucrative legitimate pre-owned resale market.) EA backed down somewhat, upping it to five installs and allowed users to deauthorize installs when removing the game. Despite these draconian measures of piracy prevention, Spore became the top pirated game of 2008 and clocked in the highest number of illegal downloads per month in history. EA was sued over Spore's DRM since according to the plaintiffs, they failed to disclose the restrictions on the packaging or in the End User License Agreement.

The boxed copies of the games in question still include SecuROM, presenting somewhat of a double standard. Digital downloaders using Steam are being rewarded where those using another service or buying a boxed copy must still deal with the now notorious DRM scheme. Also, Steam itself is a form of DRM, all be it much milder than SecuROM. Many games require you to be online and connected to Steam, which puts mobile gamers out in the cold. However, according to Steam, games are associated with your account, not your computer so you can play your games on any system. This is why the online connection is needed. It's a more common sense approach to DRM that keeps publishers happy without punishing legitimate users. Now all we need to do is do the same with boxed copies and finally put SecuROM and its counterparts out to pasture for good.

Source: CNET News , Steam Press Release

It's no surprise that Spore has been a bit of an embarrassment for Electronic Arts. While the game was favoured by critics, users lambasted its draconian SecuROM copy-protection system due to its limited number of installs and hidden root kits. Well, looks like EA's radical attempt to put a halt to piracy of their games has backfired on them yet again. While I don't like to use Internet memes on here, I think the term "epic fail" perfectly describes this situation. Spore has officially taken the crown of the most pirated game in history in terms of downloads per month. In the three months since it's release, torrent sites have reported that the game has been downloaded illegally a staggering 1.7 million times. That's approximately 566,666 downloads per month. The Sims 2, another Will Wright creation takes second place with 1.1 million downloads in 2008. (about 91,600 downloads per month) UBI's Assassin's Creed (which I reviewed here. My copy is legal, unfortunately I paid for it) rounds out the top three with 1 million downloads.

EA has said that not every download was successful. Many tech pundits suspect that a great deal of downloads were legitimate buyers looking to circumvent the ridiculous restrictions placed on the game. Regardless of the reason for downloading, it just proves that DRM as an anti-piracy measure is not working at all. With the amount of bad press EA has received over SecuROM, they have to ask themselves if it's really worth it, or should that money be invested elsewhere. If they chose the latter, they might have better quality products on their hands that people actually want to buy. What a novel idea!

Source: TorrentFreak

Gamers can usually be placed into three categories. Your casual gamer plays video games every so often, maybe less than an hour or two a week. Hardcore gamers use gaming as their primary hobby and may spend many hours a week gaming. Intermediate gamers like myself fall somewhere in between. However, is there a fourth category? In recent years, some psychiatrists have been proposing that there is a new mental illness in our society: gaming addiction. These are people who play video games obsessively. They spend all their free time gaming alone or online. They may start to ignore their jobs, their school, their family, even eating and their own personal hygiene to play games. There have been many recent high profile cases regarding so called addicts. Perhaps the most famous was of a South Korean gentleman who died at an internet cafe after playing the popular MMO World of Warcraft for several days strait. In Toronto this week, the big story is of a 15 year old boy who ran away after his parents confiscated his Xbox 360 after he had been obsessively playing Call of Duty 4 online. This boy has been missing for several days and has led to frantic searches

Despite these high profile cases, psychologists are far from reaching any sort of consensus on this issue. Like sex addiction, a sizable number feel that game addiction is not a real condition. At current, the WHO does not recognize it as a legitimate psychological problem. This hasn't stopped the media from blaming game addiction for when things go wrong. TV "psychiatrist" (his official job title is "life coach") Dr. Phil famously put his foot in his mouth when he blamed violent video games for the Virginia Tech Massacre. In reality, the shooter, though he had been playing violent games, had been deeply disturbed to begin with and had stopped taking his meds. The TV life coach is now speaking out against game addiction despite a lack of credible academic studies into the condition. For Phil McGraw though, it's not whether a condition is legitimate or not. It's what gets him ratings and what sells his books. The media has long enjoyed lambasting video games for society's ills since it makes a good story. It's not too different from out parents' days when TV was blamed for child deliquency. Games are a convenient scapegoat and distract us from focusing on the root causes of problems.

I don't have a degree is psychology, nor have I even attended a psychology course. However, from my own life experiences and the ones of those around me, I have come to this conclusions. When it comes to non-chemical addictions, the addiction itself is a symptom rather than the ailment. In other words, the addiction is being used by people to medicate some other problem. So yes, game addiction is real in a sense. Society tends to treat these kinds of addictions as if they were isolated in a bubble, which you can't do. A online gaming addict may be doing so because they feel isolated in the real world. It's a form of human contact where they can freely interact with people and be someone they're not. So to cure the addiction, you have to cure the root cause first. There is no such thing as a game that is deliberately addictive. We may call a game such since it draws us in but the vast majority of us wouldn't do so to the point where it was interfering with our life's priorities. We have to stop blaming the games themselves before we can treat the real problems of "gaming addicts".

Update: For international readers, the missing boy I mentioned, a Brandon Crisp, 15, was found dead the other day. Cause of death was a fall from a tree. Police do not suspect foul play. The media is still blaming the game, natch. Must be nice to never have to take responsibility for your own actions and have TV and video games control your life. Most of us are stuck living in the real world.

Xbox fanboys like to refer to Sony's console as the Delaystation. It's true that stuff for the console frequently suffers delays. However, I'd rather have a game delayed and end up with a quality product rather than have it released on time and end up with a piece of trash, which frequently occurs with PC titles. Once again, LittleBigPlanet has been delayed, with Media Molecule and Sony pushing its release date back one week. However, this is a delay that never should have happened.

I have an allergy to BS. Whenever someone presents BS to me, I suffer from severe irritation. Apparently, some music tracks in LBP are rumoured to have lines from the Quaran in them. This has upset Muslims. Sony and MM are keeping mum on what exactly this offensive content might be. One PSU reader noted in the comment section that the offending lines are ""kollo nafsin tha'iqatol mawt", literally: 'Every soul shall have the taste of death'" and ""kollo man alaiha fan", literally: 'All that is on earth will perish'" I try to keep politics out of this blog but it just upsets me since Islam is a religion that is literally offended by everything. Rather, I should say that there are certain people in Islam who deliberately look for things to be offended by. What's happening to LBP concerning "Islamic references" is nothing new. As far back as 1998, Muslims complained about the star and crescent moon symbol appearing in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The symbol appears on movable blocks in the game as well as prominently in the Spirit Temple. Muslims had demanded the symbol be removed, which Nintendo eventually did. The original gold cartridge and the original grey cartridge (which I own) versions still have it. Assassin's Creed, which also has references to Islam, contains a content disclaimer. I am personally outraged that religious interests are dictating our culture when we supposedly live in a secular society. It's blatant censorship. Now, some people might think I'm being silly since LittleBigPlanet is just a video game. It goes beyond that though. This seems to stem from a single complaint since the game is only publicly available a closed beta. The fact that one person can wield so much influence by simply claiming religious offense is disturbing.

I personally don't even know how these lines got are in there, or even if they are actually there at all. It's not like this is unheard of. Back in the 60s and 70s, religious interests claimed they could hear secret satanic messages in rock songs played backwards. Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven is perhaps the most famous. (If you have the CD version, you can try for yourself by using a program like Audacity to reverse the song. I personally didn't hear anything. I don't recommend doing it with a turntable since you can damage the needle, and Led Zeppelin 4 LP is a valuable album) An Atlantic Records executive laid final word by famously proclaiming that their turntables only run on one direction, forward. In all likelihood, this is just some religious zealot hearing things that aren't there. Still, we have to endure another delay for rubbish like this. It's not fair, it's not right, yet the media continues to cowtoe to special interests so there's nothing we can do. My message to Sony and MM is not to let this happen again. By that I don't mean the "lyrics", but delays over nonsense complaints.

Source: PSU

EA is claiming that piracy didn't hurt Spore sales, lauding the 1 million plus copies sold since release compared to the rumoured 500,000 torrent downloads. EA has long claimed that torrent downloads and other forms of piracy have been eating into their bottom line big time. EA's corporate communications officer Mariam Sughayer had something interesting to say on the subject.

"We've talked to people that made several unsuccessful attempts to download the game and ended up with incomplete, slow, buggy or unusable code. In one case, a file identified as Spore contained a virus.

"To say that every download represents a successful copy of the game--or that there's been more than 500,000 copies downloaded--that's just not true."

"Stepping aside from the whole issue of DRM, people need to recognize that every BitTorrent download doesn't represent a successful copy of a game, let alone a lost sale,"

Step on the breaks here. A torrent download does not equal a lost sale? But for years the game industry has been claiming that every single one does and that's when DRM is necessary in games. In fact, EA made that vary claim just last week! I can't help but find that statement to be a little ironic. This begs the question as to whether piracy really is costing the gaming industry as much as they claim and whether the forms of intrusive DRM used in games like Spore are even necessary. Maybe EA is referring to all those people who bought the game and then downloaded it to obtain a working copy. Who knows. Still, this is a startling revelation strait from the horse's mouth. We've long suspected that the publishers have been jacking us legitimate gamers. This seems to be the proof.

Source: CNET

After September's Spore fiasco, I thought I'd put this question to October's survey. Do the new intrusive DRM measures used in PC games effectively stop piracy?

The Spore fiasco continues, on yesterdays news of EA's Spore breaching the 1 million sold mark, today we hear of angry customers suing the gaming giant over its SecuROM DRM system. The class action suit cites the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law stating that EA failed to inform consumers of DRM restrictions placed on Spore.

According to the complaint...

"Although consumers are told the game uses access control and copy protection technology, consumers are not told that this technology is actually an entirely separate, stand-alone program which will download, install, and operate on their computer," "Once installed, it becomes a permanent part of the consumer's software portfolio. Even if the consumer uninstalls Spore, and entirely deletes it from their computer, SecuROM remains a fixture on their computer unless and until the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive."

The suit accuses EA of deliberately hiding the fact that Spore includes SecuROM, which it alleges is "secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernel) and [is] surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation of the computer, and preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations." Furthermore, the suit also complains that SecuROM takes over a portion of the computers processing power to transmit information back to EA.

The suit seeks damages to the tune of $49.99, the retail cost of the game plus additional damages (presumably legal fees) for each participant in the suit.

The suit reinforces what I've been saying about DRM for a while now. Game publishers are deceiving consumers by not disclosing DRM restrictions. Does this lawsuit stand a chance? I can't really say since I'm a political scientist and not a lawyer. Hopefully though it will bring meaningful changes to the way DRM is handled in PC gaming. Developers should be forced to disclose all DRM restrictions on the games packaging. However, this is showing that the more restrictive you make DRM, the more people will not stand for it. Spore is one of the first games that has introduced the non-gaming crowd to the harsh and intrusive restrictions that have been plaguing PC games for several years now. At best for EA, this is still a PR nightmare regardless of whether they win or not. EA is still claiming that DRM is necessary to prevent piracy. This is despite the fact that statistics are proving otherwise. It's planned obsolescence pure and simple and hopefully EA will be made to pay for it.

Source: CNET

Update: The Register contains some more details about the suit. The case seems surprisingly air tight since EA does not provide any warning whatsoever in the EULA about SecuROM.