A new study led by Malena Ivarsson from the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University (Stockholm, Sweden) comes to the conclusion that teens who have been overexposed to violent content may become desensitized to it.
Read moreA new study led by Malena Ivarsson from the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University (Stockholm, Sweden) comes to the conclusion that teens who have been overexposed to violent content may become desensitized to it.
Read moreBlizzard announced that it will keep the Diablo III auction houses offline for awhile longer as it deals with the aftermath of a gold duping bug that was introduced in a patch released earlier this week. While the nasty little bug that saw a handful of users take advantage and create trillions of in-game gold has been squashed, Blizzard tells the community that it needs a little more time to audit players who may have used the exploit and made transactions in the auction houses.
Read moreMobile games publisher Gree has laid off an estimated 30 employees from its San Francisco office according to reports on Develop and GII. While the exact number of employees let go was not confirmed, the layoffs have been. According to Gree COO Anil Dharni, the staff reduction is part of re-alignment of its U.S. operations.
Read moreFinally members of Congress have put forth serious DMCA reform legislation and rights groups are praising it right out of the gate. The new legislation is called the "Unlocking Technology Act of 2013," and is sponsored by Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Jared Polis (D-CO). The Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 legalizes unlocking cell phone unlocking and modifies the DMCA so that unlocking copy-protected content is only illegal if it's done in order to "facilitate the infringement of a copyright."
Read moreAccording to this Kotaku report citing two unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation, TimeGate Studios has laid off its entire staff. The developer behind Section 8 and the co-developer of Aliens: Colonial Marines sent everyone home early today according to the sources. Read more
Back in March we told you about Moses Lake, Washington teen Nathon Brooks, the 14-year-old charged with attempted murder for shooting his parents with a .22 caliber pistol while they were sleeping because they took away his video games (see this story for more details). Read more
Bluestacks wants its new console system, the Android-based GamePop, to be "Netflix for games." Pre-orders have launched for the device, which won't cost consumers more than a monthly commitment to sign up to its games services and to pay around $10 for shipping and handling. For a $6.99 monthly fee, customers get access to a library of over 500 Android-based games, the GamePop console, a controller, the power supply and HDMI cable. Read more
Signifi Solutions has launched a new video game vending kiosk called the 'Gamer Spot Shop' that allows consumers to rent and purchase video games, going head-to-head with other companies that provide similar services such as Redbox.
Signifi says that most retailers spend a lot of resources to sell video games, but with its kiosk solution retailers can automate the process, have better control over inventory and reduce manpower.
Read moreWorld of Tanks developer Wargaming.net has filed a lawsuit against Changyou.com and Beijing Gamease Age Digital Technology Co. in the United States Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The lawsuit alleges that the defendant(s) "stole" Wargaming.net's intillectual property to create an online tank game called "Project Tanks" that is "disturbingly similar" to World of Tanks. Wargaming.net is using the law firm Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. Read more
This really shouldn't come as any shock to anyone that has spent even a little bit of time at a real casino in America, but it looks like some folks in Las Vegas, Nevada don't like Google Glass. Read more
Even as the makers of the Ouya console (seem to) struggle to fill the orders of those individuals who backed them in their successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign (to the tune of $8.3 million), the company behind the Android-based console announces that they have secured $15 million in venture capital financing and that it will move its retail release from early to late June. The $15 million in funding is from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), the Mayfield Fund, Nvidia, Shasta Ventures and Occam Partners.
Read moreA former EA Sports producer says that the NCAA games developed by EA Sports over the years were designed to replicate actual players without using their names. This is according to a deposition given by former EA Sports producer Jeremy Strauser, who testified in a deposition for the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit against the NCAA, Collegiate Licensing Company, and EA Sports. The deposition, along with other documents from the case are part of EA's filings with the court last week. Jeremy Strauser worked at EA from 1995 until 2011.
Read moreAn attorney for convicted Deltona, Florida mass murderer Troy Victorino will once again attempt to appeal his client's conviction during arguments this week before the Florida Supreme Court. In September 2006, Victorino and another killer were sentenced to death for the brutal 2004 slaying of six people and a dog using baseball bats and knives. The crime has been described as one of the most gruesome mass killings in the state's history.
Read moreAn investigation examining 400 apps conducted by Develop shows that there is a lack of consistency in the way in-game purchases are presented on digital stores. The investigation follows the UK government agency the Office of Fair Trading’s recent announcement that it would investigate in-app purchases in children’s games. Read more
Some research has come to the conclusion that playing violent games makes people more aggressive in the short term, but new research (as highlighted by Forbes) shows that the competition found in many video games may be at the root of that aggression and not necessarily the violent content. Read more