Obama's Campaign Visits Second Life

Barack Obama, presidential hopeful, has decided to simulcast a real-life visit with an Iowa family in his HQ in Second Life. The simulcast will not be live video feed, but instead, will have a licensed avatar mimic his mannerisms over a stream of his audio. I do not claim to understand, I just report this stuff.

See Obama's Officially Licensed Avatar Run for President

There is also an Obama rally at SL's Capitol Hill this Saturday for any one who cannot get enough virtual campaigning.

Speaking of virtual politics, check this article about the French Presidential election heating up in SL. There appears to be virtual violence in the form of push guns and pig grenades...oh French people.

The French Fight...For Once

PS3s banned in UK Prisons

Citing fears of internet capability, UK Home Secretary John Reid banned all PS3s in prisons. The main concern in that the consoles can give and receive radio signals.

No PS3 in prison? I never would have...

Apparently the PS2 got banned after inmates used it to watch porn.

Spyro makers sued over Boy's epileptic seizure

A young boy suffered a seizure while playing Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, a game mostly held to be crap in general. After not heeding the warning at the beginning of the game, the boy's mother is no suing Vivendi, Sony, Sierra, and the video store that rented the game. The woman claims the companies were, "negligent, careless, and reckless with regard to the design and manufacture," of the game; that is what the warning label is for lady.

Spyro Suit

Nintendo got sued a couple of years ago by angry parents whose child had died playing N64 in a similar epileptic incident. Nintendo won on summary judgment after the other side failed to respond. I bet the defendants in this case will have similar luck.

Games for Guns

In some unsafe neighborhoods of Mexico City, the Mexican government has created a program where its citizens can exchange firearms for computers (for big firearms) or an Xbox or cash (smaller firearms). Microsoft was kind enough to donate software for the computers exchanged. Guns that are handed over are destroyed by the Mexican Army.

Juegos Por Armas

How ironic would it be if the games that they are distributing actually induced the violence they are attempting to stop. I do not think that games cause violent behavior, but it does seem strange that the real-life danger is swapped for the less dangerous virtual violence. Of course, a few hundred miles north, GRAW2 is being seized by the same Mexican government.

Mexican Governor Orders Seizures of Clancy's Ghost Recon 2

Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas, governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, has ordered all copies of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, a shooter based in Juarez, Mexico, to be seized. The game follows troops fighting against Mexican rebels in 2014 in Juarez and El Paso. The governor decried the game instilled poor values and inaccurately portrayed the people of his city as violent. The proper authorities are gathering information about where the game is sold and distributed so that can begin their campaign.

GRAW2 Seized!

What ever happened to: It is just a game?

Gears of War Movie Rights Secured

New Line, the makers of my favorite game-turned-movie Mortal Kombat, has secured the rights to make a Gears of War movie written by Stuart Beattie, the writer of Collateral. Although certainly not the first game to movie franchise IP, I cannot help but feel that more games will be made into movies.

Gears of War: The Movie

Most game movies either suck, do not stay true to the game, or both. The only two I can remember liking are Mortal Kombat (only the first one) and Doom (I'm not exactly sure why I liked this one, probably because the plot wasn't totally stock and still managed to fit the game). They fall victim to the exact same problem that famous movies-turned-games do: reliance on a name to make an otherwise crap product saleable. Lets see if GoW works out better than most.

Jack Thompson Countersues T2

Very predictably, Jack Thompson, the preacher of puff, has countersued Take-Two alleging violations of his freedom of speech and multiple violations under RICO (Racketeering legislation) for T2's campaign against him. Honestly, this guy bugs me so much that I cannot even cover this story any more, just read it if you care to hear what he has to say (I do not).

Thompson Arrogantly Defends Himself

While I believe that Thompson's exploits can be justified from a moral standpoint, how can the guy expect any one to respect him (independent of his right to say it) when he drops comments about Rockstar in a legal motion like: "What else would one expect of Scottish sociopaths sipping their single malt Glenlivet in between brainstorming software programming sessions?" He then brings up September 11 and, after claiming that T2's influence on pop culture breads extremism, he continues "What is America's rebuttal to the Islamic Fascist recruitment call? This counterclaim is the rebuttal, not just to these terrorists but to Take-Two." WTF?