Obama Advertises in EA Games

Barack Obama, living the "Change We Can Believe In," began advertising in video games this past week. He bought ad space in a variety of EA titles that utilize Xbox Live, therefore allowing for constant updates. As the article notes, one game Burnout, came out in January but the ads will be running for a limited period of time right now. There was no mention of the price of the ads, but they were bought to target the video game sweet spot demographic of young males, traditionally tough to reach for political candidates.

Oburnout

Good to see that politicians are heeding the times.

Thailand Wants to Prosecute VG Makers for Copycat Murders

In an extremely weak attempt to curb violence in his country, one Thai official has suggested that video game makers be held liable for copycat crimes committed by players imitating a game. This brilliant suggestion comes on the heels of the murder of a Bangkok cabbie thought to be killed by a GTA-addled maniac. Somchai Jaroen-amnuaysuk of the Welfare Promotion, Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups Office (now there is a mouth full: where are they for all of the child prostitutes?), said, "When a player copycats a crime he or she sees in the game, the game maker should be prosecuted. Prosecutions will automatically force game makers to act more responsibly." Right...

A Different Copyright!

Why limit the law to murder? The state should be suing Nintendo's Ass! I only ate the mushrooms because I thought they would make me bigger, and now look at me!

Casual Pirates - How Much Damage Are They Doing?

Gamasutra is featuring an interesting article about piracy of casual games. Starting from the mind-boggling statistic that 92% of Reflexive's Ricochet Infinity games are pirated, Russell Carroll then examines the impact of anti-piracy measures on the number of people buying the game. His conclusion: for every thousand pirated copies prevented, only one of those becomes a paying customer. Damn.

Pirates Steal Software, Not Sales

Carroll ultimately states, "a pirated copy is more like the loss of a download than the loss of a sale." This is congruent with my experience of piracy: pirates take games they would not buy (and some they would). The value of having the pirate play the game is not taken into account, and often, once the pirate can afford games, he will buy those games that are worth it (much like all of those college kids that download a bunch of music then end up buying the CDs with songs they really liked).

Trademark Application Hints at Apple Gaming

Apple, provider of most things cool, has filed a trademark application to secure the Apple brand for "Toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games." While filing a trademark application sets nothing in stone, it does show that Apple is thinking in the gaming direction.

iGame...I already want it!

As Apple pushes further into the media distribution business, it makes sense for them to be brainstorming like this --> Ars Technica makes some good points about the potential uses with the Apple TV. I am excited to see just what Apple has in store.

Virtual Goods Stolen, Police Do Nothing

Blaine, WI resident, Geoff Luurs fell victim to a heinous crime. His "friend" obtained his user name and password and wiped his FFXI account clean. Luurs did the math and claims that he lost over $3800 worth of virtual property. He called the police, but they did nothing because they believe that the goods have no real value.

My Gil is Worth Something!

I like the reaction of Mike Fahey at Kotaku, and I think that his gut is correct in believing that if the government begins recognizing virtual items as having real value, then the next logical step would be to tax them. It seems a bit like the "don't give licenses to illegals" argument in the sense that it is odd for one arm of the government (police saying the virtual goods have worth) to take an opposite stance to another arm of the government (the IRS saying they have no worth). The thing that perplexes me though is that seems well-settled to me that this stuff has value. While it may not have a physical manifestation, there are still people who are willing to buy this stuff - if a WoW gift card came out that only had a sword on it, I bet people would buy it. Virtual goods are commodities. While I agree that the tax implications are mind-boggling, and surely going to be a pain to gamers everywhere, virtual goods will be thought of the way they should be, as valuable property, for better or worse.

ELSPA Claims 90 Percent of DS Users in US Using R4 Pirating Chip

John Hillier, spokesman for the UK's Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association's intellectual property crime unit, stated that "it's thought" that 90 percent of American DS owners pirate software using the R4 chip.

90...try .9

I understand Hillier's concern about the implications of such a powerful pirating tool, but seeing as how this is the first mention I have heard of the chip (thanks Destructoid for calling me out as having my "face in a first-generation, un-backlit Gameboy Advance this whole time"), I think that figure may be a bit preposterous...

Microsoft Files Application for Body Monitoring Software

While not directly related to video games (yet), Microsoft has submitted an application to the PTO regarding new software developed to monitor employee performance through such bio-indicators as heart rate, facial expressions, body temperature, movement, and blood pressure. Predictably, privacy groups are concerned that this level of unprecedented intrusion is too much.

MicroMonitorsoft

The application of this technology to video games could lead to all sorts of new gaming experiences. Imagine Eternal Darkness but instead of the fear meter being linked to your character, it is linked directly to you - your racing heart triggers the sound to cut out, or screen to shut off. This type of software can also be used by developers to gauge how effectively the emotions of their game are coming across - is the game exciting, relaxing, or just plain boring. Regardless, the software promises to usher in a new era of interactivity.

ESA Forms PAC

The Entertainment Software Association, a group representing major game publishers such as Disney, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and EA, created a PAC to support champions of the video game industry. Though they are looking to donate between $50,000 and $100,000 across many national candidates, Michael Gallagher, head of ESA, insists that the donations prove that ESA is giving candidates support, even if small. In addition to the money, Gallagher remarks about the mobilization of the Video Game Voters Network, a group of 100,000 gamers that are concerned about video game issues - what candidate would not want that support?

The Billions of Dollars Industry Finally Grows Up...I'm so proud

UK PM's Knife Ban Extends to Video Games (!?!)

Gordon Brown, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, told reporters at the popular British tabloid, The Sun, that he is cracking down on knives throughout the UK, including in video games. Brown called for "computer game designers to stop their characters using blades."

How Will Mama Cook Without Her Knives?

Interesting to see where this goes...but doesn't it seem odd that video games are targeted, yet movies with gory slasher scenes did not get a mention. Frankly, the knife epidemic may be so out-of-hand in Britain, they should ban Hamlet, because SO many people get stabbed - poor Polonius...

Update 1/16/08: Looks like I may have jumped the gun here. For now, there will be no significant changes in policy

Virtual Media Company Hires Virtual Law Firm for Virtual IPO

Here is an interesting story about a Second Life business, MetaNetwork Media, that hired a virtual law firm, the MetaLegal Firm, to help them go "public" in SL. Benjamin Duranske, author of Virtually Blind, makes some good points about the legality and ethical nature of such actions. While the ToS for SL expressly claims that all stock transactions in SL are just for fun, the easy convertibility of Lindens to US dollars, makes the securities implications decidedly real.

What Exactly Does Virtual Mean?

Ron Paul: The Burning Crusade

In an unexpected public demonstration, 200 alliance members in WoW staged a march for Ron Paul, a long shot presidential candidate. The march went smoothly, with minimal interference from the general public. Some even went as far as to design crests for their shirts with a document that resembles the constitution.

mmoRPg

Cooler than Second Life political participation?

E for All 2007 Day One

Reporting semi-live from the E for All, this game expo is amazing. Having never been to one before, I am getting a bit of the "kid in the candy store" feeling. There were a couple of games I was looking for and a couple of things I discovered. Rock Band is the gem of the show. I played Epic by Faith No More and Dani California by Red Hot Chili Peppers on the guitar with my brother backing me up on vocals. It was HOT! That game is the best. Guitar Hero III was cool, but nothing too different than what I have come to expect. Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl looked predictably sweet. I did find Piano Wizard, a piano game/trainer. It had multiple stages of play, and by the end, if you played it enough, you would learn to read music, which is pretty cool. I had great fun the first day, and I'm headed back there again right now.

Fox Calls in a Hit on Hitman

Twitch, a movie news site, has reported that Fox has hired a "consultant" to assist in the final edit of the Hitman movie, slated to be released in November. Apparently, the first cut was extremely violent with head shots and other sequences of gore. Fox brought in Nicholas De Toth, the mastermind behind the PG-13 version of Live Free or Die Hard, to sanitize the movie, but claims that the released version will still be rated R.

Hitman Gets Hit

While this story is not directly related to video game law, it seems strange to me that other media outlets are effectively trying to censor the game's IP. How can you have a movie called Hitman, about a guy named Agent 47 who kills people, but have it sanitized. It seems to me that the gamers that loved the game would love to see Hitman in action, not Hitman where we hear the gun shots and it fades to black. Since Hitman is a video game movie, perhaps Fox thinks they can appeal to wider demographic, but this seems like selling cigarettes to kids --> would we want the kids to see a sanitized playboy movie, only to have them discover that when they opened the magazine they saw much more than they should?

MMOs - Vehicles for Money Laundering

According to this article from M-Net, Symantec, an internet security company, has begun targeting MMOs, such as Second Life and WoW, as potential outlets for criminals to launder money. Essentially, the article claims, that given the large amounts of basically unregulated transactions that occur in these worlds, it would be easy for dummy accounts to be created, for criminals to put money into these accounts, transfer the money in game, and then cash out in a different currency, all without being tracked. In addition, Symantec believes that much of software released to alter the interface of MMOs is laced with malicious programs designed to mine data and track keystrokes.

World of Washcash

It will be interesting to see if these fears are founded. If they are, who is going to stop it: the developers? the government? the players? It would be a jurisdictional nightmare if criminals in Russia laundered money through Second Life and cashed out in Hungary. Perhaps we should look into a VICJ - a Virtual International Court of Justice.

Virtual Worlds Day Two

Sorry for the delay folks, I know that many of you couldn't wait to get highlights from the second day, so here they are:

Keynote Address from Christian Renaud, Chief Architect of Networked Virtual Environments for Cisco: Urged the attendees to move to open standards with the purpose of propelling virtual worlds into the mainstream. He thinks that to be able to do this, the industry must allow common identities (meaning avatars that can transcend worlds to some degree), common metrics (meaning that the worlds are measured on a common scale so that consumers can differentiate between them in a useful way), common platforms (meaning namely interoperability), and common understanding (alluding to focused vision of where virtual worlds are headed). As Gary McGinty, CEO of Big Bad Wolf, said to me afterward about Renaud's speech, "The quote of the conference was, 'Do you want all of Betamaxx, or a piece of VHS?'"

Visionary Panel - Where the Platforms are Going Next - The panel consisted of Christopher Klaus (CEO, Kaneva), Michael Wilson (CEO, Makena), Raph Koster (CEO, Areae), Corey Bridges (Co-founder of Multiverse), Stephen Lawler (General Manager of Virtual Earth), Hui Xu (Founder and CEO, HiPiHi), and was moderated by Mark Wallace, blogger and co-author of Only A Game with Peter Ludlow, an excellent read: For those unacquainted with this panel, it is populated by some of the most influential people in the virtual worlds industry. The panel believes that there is great opportunity for virtual worlds growth in the areas of web integration (meaning connecting worlds to streaming media and other forms of content already available on the web) and connecting virtual worlds to social networks already in existence, such as Facebook or MySpace. The panel also concluded though that growth is not unilateral anymore and that there is potential to grow in many directions. One such area is in business models. Other possibilities for innovation included easier usability for denizens and capability for users to connect to virtual worlds online. Koster, perhaps the panel's most colorful character, was adamant that 3D was not the answer to everything online. He believes that user interface should be determined by the task at hand, and that there are some tasks on the internet that are just easier in 2D (like reading a newspaper article). He made excellent point that media outlets accrete, they do not replace (TV didn't replace radio, they both exist). Along those lines, virtual worlds are not here to replace old forms of entertainment, but can provide a new vehicle for media delivery. He also made a good point about the lack of difference between games and serious games, stating that we are all in the bookstore business, not the non-fiction aisle business.

Virtual Worlds and the Music Industry - The panel had representatives from Virtual MTV, Zwinky, and Doppelganger, the company behind V-Side: I found this to be one of the most interesting sessions at the the whole show. These three projects all work on delivering music to listeners in new and more interactive ways. Virtual worlds provide a fantastic opportunity for artists to connect with fans on a more personal level without all of the attendant risks of making public appearances. Matt Bostwick, the SVP of franchise development for MTV Music Group, previewed VLES - Virtual Lower East Side - with a machinama music video. The CEO of Doppelganger, Tim Stevens, believes that music delivery is fundamentally changing in that content must be delivered to the consumer now, not like before when listeners had to dial in, tune in, etc..

The conference had a series of lectures, but also an expo hall. In the expo hall I met David Colleen, head of Planet 9 Studios. Planet 9 is doing some interesting work creating 3D models of many of the major cities in the world. They had one particularly cool demonstration of their Virtual Earth (TM) in a GPS navigation so that the map was not a flat, nondescript 2D image, but a full 3D view of the city - very cool. Right after I finished speaking with him, I went to listen to the visionary panel, where one of the speakers was head of Microsoft's Virtual Earth (TM), Microsoft's version of Planet 9's product. Both have the same trademark on essentially the same product. I may be fresh out of school, but...

All-in-all, I would say that the conference was a success, not only for myself, but for the entire industry. They know they are on the cusp of being mainstream - give it ten years.

Virtual Worlds Day One

So day one is finished: it was not exactly as I expected. There was little representation from game worlds; most of the attendees were involved in social networking sites, content creation, and other virtual environment-type pursuits. Here are some highlights:

Keynote Speaker Anthony Zuiker, creator of CSI: Gave an entertaining speech laying down the most recent approach to marketing CSI by connecting TV, online, mobile, and gaming platforms to give a total media package. Build the content and they will come.

Edward Castronova's Perfidious Economy: The speech was meant to get the attendees thinking about policy issues in virtual worlds. He played an old economics game with three volunteers (me being one of them) involving the pooling of common resources to illustrate that whether dictatorship or democracy rules, often, the result of external organization is more resources for all. He argues that the fun of MMOs comes from this sharing of common resources. I thought his argument that placing an external structure on a virtual economy could increase resources (here being not only wealth, but also fun) was an interesting contrast to the usual murmuring complaints of those that think that the players should be able to do whatever they want.

Sean Kane's IP Wealth and Pitfalls of Synthetic Worlds: It was essentially a refresher from my copyright course, covering the many layers of copyrightability within virtual worlds with two big take-aways: 1. Copyrights are cheap at $45, so just get one; and 2. Copyright vigilance is a lot cheaper than litigation - so hire a lawyer!

Blake Lewin's Announcement of a Partnership between Turner Networks and Kaneva: Lewin described Turner's business model as aggregating content to suit a particular niche audience, and then using this audience to sell advertising for other products that niche may enjoy. Turner has used Kaneva to create a virtual environment for propagating Turner's licensed content. Inside this virtual world, there were screens everywhere constantly showing Turner content. These environments range from a hypothetical TBS building (very funny), to a TNT land (knows drama), to a recreation of the Family Guy house for watching Family Guy with friends. It will be interesting to see if people will sign in to watch TV with friends --> will the experience be the same as actually watching it with friends?

Overall, the day was a success and I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Woman WoW Player Arrested for Child Abduction

When I read the headline, "WoW Player Arrested for Child Abduction," I thought the worst. But, as it turns out, a 31 year-old Australian woman had formed a relationship with a 17 year-old North Carolina boy, and was arrested after coming over to this country to pick the boy up and take him back to Australia. She claimed that the boy's family paid for her to visit, but the parents are denying that allegation.

Woman Arrested for Trying to Take Underage WoW Friend Back to Australia with her

While I certainly would never condone illegal behavior, that boy is probably stoked that he landed that older broad, but not that he did so through WoW.

Video Game Addiction is not a Legit Disease...Yet

The American Medical Association concluded at their most recent conference that video game addiction is not a disease on par with alcoholism or other addiction-based afflictions. While not directly relevant to the law yet, one can only imagine the plaintiff's lawyer when suing a video game company because Timmy went ballistic, citing the fact that poor Timmy is a victim of his disease, this addiction that is video games.

Video Games, like Pot, is not Addicting...but combine the two...

If VG addiction is placed on a list of diseases, I'm going to scream. It seems like anybody with a passion could be classified as having a disease associated with the passion. Do you play the piano all of the time? Musicianship, yeah my brother has that and all of that music he makes is ruining his life. My buddy likes to draw a bit too much? Artistry, its a real plague on society. Oh, and my friend who is obsessed with basketball? Athleticism. When he isn't playing, he is watching or reading about it. Don't make fun...it is a serious disease.

Seriously though, I guess video games do occupy a strange niche in that some people literally play them all day. If you play so many games that you cannot handle your daily biz, you've got a problem...an addiction even.

Second Life Campaign Headquarters May Violate Japanese Election Law

While the latest political election rage has been to set up a virtual headquarters in a virtual world, usually Second Life, one Japanese politico-to-be may have overstepped his bounds. It is illegal for Japanese political candidated to set-up or update any website regarding their campaign during their campaign. Right now, the Japanese authorities are looking into Kan Suzuki's actions in establishing a SL presence to see if it violates election law.

KAN!!!!

As of now, there is no official word about whether a violation has occurred.

Player Driven MMO Currency Exchange Opens

Sparter, an online marketplace provider, has launched a new player driven currency exchange that will allow players to not only swap currencies from one game to another, but also track all of the latest trends in the currency, and make informed decisions about whether they are getting a good deal or not. In addition, all of the IP rights of the game developers will be respected. Measures are in place to ensure a safe and reliable trading environment such as Escrow accounts and participant ratings.

Virtual Currency Exchange Opens!

Now I can stop studying for the bar and become a full-time virtual currency trader!