Frank DeFord’s latest weekly segment on NPR, in advance of tomorrow night’s kickoff of the National Football League’s 2010 season, offers the scribe’s opinion why the popularity of professional football continues to grow.

First, DeFord argues, America’s affinity for football has grown as our "success" in actual wars has declined. As he writes, “It makes me wonder if, ironically, football doesn’t provide us more with nostalgia for the way war used to be — with clear battle maps, focused campaigns, simple battle lines.”

He added, “And, of course, football games have neat conclusions — they’re simply won or lost. But our wars are precisely not settled that way anymore; their goals are vague and imprecise and they just drag on and on, without resolution.”

The other reason for the explosion in the NFL’s popularity is its violence according to DeFord, since “we prefer more violence in most all phases of our entertainment today.”
Read More

In an attempt to make some point, the California-based Merced Sun-Star has been following, and publishing, the Mafia Wars exploits of a local councilman.

A July 30 column on the publication’s website began, offering a look into Atwater City Councilman Nelson Crabb’s Facebook gaming tendencies, after dubbing Crabb, an ex-policeman, the “Dapper Packer,” citing his penchant for carrying a gun and sending photos of “dead and dying men” to city officials.

Crabb was described as “a cold blooded killer” within Mafia Wars, where he had pulled off 1,159 murders (as of the July article), extorted a corrupt judge and become a master burglar, all in addition to opening his own chop shop. The paper wrote of these achievements, “That isn't exactly what you might expect from a law-and-order man.”
Read More

Korea’s Game Rating Board (GRB) is making life difficult for independent Korean game makers, strictly enforcing a law that virtually all games published in the country must be rated.

Posting to Reddit, a Korean game fan indicated that GRB recently swooped down upon a website for users of RPG Maker, a free tool that can be used to create role-playing games. While the games created and shared on the site were apparently not for sale, the GRB demanded that all the games shared on the site must be rated. The forum’s moderators, according to the Reddit user, deleted all the games on their website in light of paying the fees.
Read More

A St. Charles, Illinois school for disadvantaged children saw significant gains in cognitive skills development after implementing videogame-based developmental software.

The Glenwood School for Boys and Girls first introduced BrainWare Safari software, from developer Learning Enhancement Corporation, in the 2008-2009 school year, according to a story on NWI.com. As part of a pilot program conducted between September 08 and February 2009, 96 students were tested both before and after using the BrainWare Safari program for 30 minutes a day.

The kids who used the software ranged from second to eighth graders and posted improvements, measured from testing, in reading, writing and math, while cognitive abilities improved as well.
Read More

The United Arab Emirates’ National Media Council has banned the release of Take-Two Interactive’s Mafia II videogame in that country.

Nitin Mathew, of the Dubai-based distribution firm Red Entertainment Distribution, told Arabian Business that the game was banned because of its “excessive violence and nudity.”

Mafia II was going to be released at the end of August, but now it will share the same fate as its predecessor Mafia, which was also banished from the UAE. Other recent games outlawed in the UAE include Heavy Rain, Dante’s Inferno (which wasn’t even submitted to censors), Darksiders, God of War and Grand Theft Auto IV. Read More

A unit of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has published a pair of North Korean-developed mobile games, causing some pundits to wonder about the legality of such dealings.

As detailed by Bloomberg, North Korea’s General Federation of Science and Technology developed the games: a 2007 bowling game named Big Lebowski Bowling and another based on the Men in Black movies. Both games were sourced through the Nosotek Joint Venture Company, which is billed as the “first western IT venture” in North Korea, and offers to provide invoices through “a Hong Kong or Chinese company.”
Read More

The red phones connecting the world’s defense/defence ministers must be working fine, as yet another member of that group has jumped on the anti-Medal of Honor videogame bandwagon.

This time around Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay took issue with the Electronic Arts game, specifically over the ability to play as a member of the Taliban in Medal of Honor’s multiplayer mode. MacKay, via the Ottawa Citizen, had this to say about the game:

The men and women of the Canadian Forces, our allies, aid workers, and innocent Afghans are being shot at, and sometimes killed, by the Taliban. This is reality. I find it wrong to have anyone, children in particular, playing the role of the Taliban. I'm sure most Canadians are uncomfortable and angry about this. Read More

A UK journalist attempting to write a story on videogames in 2006 sent out an “informal” email to a string of fellow journalists, civil servants and MPs requesting some feedback on what types of games they played, and failed to receive a single response.

National Videogame Archive co-founder Iain Simons was penning an article for The New Statesmen at the time, and, as detailed in GamesIndustry.biz, took the non-replies to indicate that “to be identified as a gamer (in 2006, at least) was incompatible with being a 'serious' civil servant or member of the Westminster set - be that journalist, MP or whatever."

After sending a second email offering anonymity, Simons stated that, “…this time lots of them got back in touch and came 'out' as gamers."

Simons added: Read More

A cool little videogame incubator project put on this summer in the Canadian town of Charlottetown, located on Prince Edward Island, resulted in two teams of recent graduates churning out a pair of videogames.

Sponsored by the Interactive Media Alliance (IMA), Telefilm Canada and Innovation P.E.I., the three-month long program, called Game Garage, ran from June 1 to August 31. Read More

UK game industry group TIGA is continuing its full court press for the introduction of Games Tax Relief and other measures that would assist game developers in the region.

This time around TIGA used comments put forth by Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to once again push its initiatives. Hunt called for the UK to become a “digital superpower by 2015,” while noting that the UK was “probably the second best country in the world in the creation of digital content.”

TIGA chief Dr. Richard Wilson answered Hunt’s call, stating, “The UK creative industries have great potential. However, we cannot will the end without the means. Many other countries have high hopes for the economic potential of their own creative industries and are investing significant sums in them. The UK cannot be a digital superpower on the cheap.”

Wilson continued: Read More

GameStop announced today that "out of respect for our past and present men and women in uniform we will not carry Medal of Honor in any of our AAFES based stores". AAFES, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, is responsible for commercial sales on military posts and often includes outside vendors such as GameStop.

Based on the language reported by Kotaku, it appears that the request actually came from AAFES and is simply being honored by GameStop. From the email to GameStop employees earlier today, "GameStop fully supports AAFES in this endeavor and is sensitive to the fact that in multiplayer mode one side will assume the role of Taliban fighter."
Read More

The student arm of Basij, Iran’s paramilitary volunteer militia, has released a pair of new games that center on “crimes” of the “Zionist” Israeli regime.

One such game is called Assault on Freedom Convoy, which concerns the May 31st Israeli commando raid on activists trying to slip though a Gaza naval blockade. That action left nine Turkish activists dead. According to the Times of India, the game was described by Basijis as bringing to light the “crimes of the Zionist regime during the attack on the flotilla.”

The second game is called Devil Den 2, but no description of the game was offered.

Mohammad Reza Jokar, billed as the head of the Basij student organization, explained the use of games as a political tool, saying, “The young generation must find out about the Zionist regime and since video games enjoy large audiences, they were unveiled ahead of Quds Day.”
Read More

As Microsoft continues to try and get its Xbox 360 to market in China, an executive for the company outlined why Kinect may be a valuable asset in its push and how MS plans to combat piracy in the Asian country.

Simon Leung (pictured), Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Chairman and CEO for the Greater China region, speaking to the Wall Street Journal, first noted why China is such an attractive region, if it wasn’t already apparent, stating that China would soon be the world’s largest PC market, while it's already tops in the mobile phone and broadband categories.

Leung indicated that China is becoming a growing adopter of cloud computing, which could help protect Microsoft, as Leung stated, “… you cannot pirate a cloud application.”

Asked about selling consoles in China, Leung responded: Read More

Kotaku points us towards an interesting Ted Talk in which David McCandless, a self-proclaimed “data journalist” discusses overcoming information overload by visualizing and designing information so we can focus on what’s important.

After showing a graph a “landscape of the world’s fears”, or a chart showing off popular scares over the last decade, which included Swine Flu, Bird Flu, SARS, the Millennium Bug, Asteroid Collisions and Killer Wasps, McCandless pulled up a slide charting the landscape of violent videogames.
Read More

An editorial in The Salt Lake Tribune calls Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff’s decision to possibly support the videogame industry in the upcoming Schwarzenegger v. EMA SCOTUS case “baffling.”

It appears the paper has sided with pro-life groups and a handful of politicians in condemning Shurtleff (pictured) for a decision he hasn’t even made yet. Titled, “Let it Go,” the editorial stopped just short of labeling Shurtleff a hypocrite, saying instead that opposing the California law was ironic for someone representing a state “that trumpets its devotion to family values.”
Read More

In order to make its safety training more appealing to workers, the Louisiana Transportation Research Center’s (LTRC) Transportation Training and Education Center (TTEC) is trying out a pilot program that involves videogame-based teaching.

The center is now testing a simulator that allows participants to man an on-screen avatar as they run though required procedures in simulated work zones. Activities center on properly flagging equipment, operating flags correctly and following other correct safety actions.

TTEC Associate Director Glynn Cavin told 2TheAdvocate that the new training may eventually replace the currently employed conventional classroom method, which some highway workers find “unappealing,” to which he added, “It just doesn’t work well.”
Read More

Expect sales of Electronic Arts’ Medal of Honor to do a little better in New Zealand after that country’s Defense Minister Wayne Mapp (pictured) joined his UK counterpart in condemning the title.

Mapp, who is also New Zealand’s Minister of Research, Science and Technology, spoke out against the game because, presumably, of its multiplayer component, where gamers will have the ability to fight as Taliban forces.

In comments carried by GamePlanet, Mapp stated that, “Terrorist acts have caused the deaths of several New Zealanders.” He continued, “This game undermines the values of our nation, and the dedicated service of our men and women in uniform.”
Read More

Fans of LovePlus, the Konami-developed dating simulator that was released only in Japan, now have a vacation destination where they can integrate virtual girlfriends into their daily activities.

Using augmented reality (AR), Konami and the resort town of Atami, Japan have teamed up to offer 13 “romantic locations” throughout the town, where love struck gamers can pose, thanks to augmented reality, with images of their favorite LovePlus characters, like Rinko, Manaka or Nene.

It was reported by AFP that the girls “have all swapped their usual sailor-style school uniforms for casual summer wear.”

A local hotel offers additional entertainment for LovePlus fans:

The local Ohnoya hotel even offers traditional rooms to the unusual couples, which feature two sets of futon beds and another barcode panel that allows the men to visualise their girlfriends in a flattering summer kimono. Read More

The serial killer game we covered here on GP last week appears to be just an elaborate hoax.

A post on the RPG Codex forums, where the “fake” developer (Crimson King) discussed his creation, led us to a post on the SomethingAwful forums, in which an entry attributed to Crimson King, or the YouTube user who posted the original video, states that the game is a hoax.

The culprits, if it’s really them, opened up on why they performed such an experiment: Read More

The European Service Network (ESN), operating under a budget of 275,000 Euros (approximately $349,000 U.S.) from the European Parliament's Directorate-General for Communication, is developing an online role-playing game—and social networking forum—that it hopes will capture “the essence of European Parliament.”

Named Citzalia, the online experience was compared to Second Life and will have users create an avatar before being able to,  “navigate around a virtual recreation of the actual Parliament, to create content, and to involve themselves in virtual law-making.” Read More

Georgia’s aggressive tax breaks for interactive developers seem to be paying off for the state, if you believe a rosy picture painted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

All in all, the piece estimated that around 70 companies “affiliated with videogame production” operate in Georgia today. The economic impact of such companies on the local economy was pegged at $68.9 million in 2008, while a figure of $49.9 million was assigned to 2009, though that number is expected to double once companies that have not yet filed for tax incentives do so.

Among the lures that make Georgia an attractive home for game developers is a sizeable tax credit of 20 percent for investments that surpass $500,000, with an additional 10 percent in breaks up for grabs if the state’s logo is embedded in the game.
Read More

GamePolitics reader Dante pointed us towards a short Finnish recounting (translated) of an article from a Danish newspaper, which appeared to indicate that the Medal of Honor “scare” started by Fox News, and perpetuated by UK Defense Secretary Liam Fox, had spread to Denmark.

In a pair of articles published on the Danish website MetroXpress, while the game did come under some criticism—it was described as “disrespectful” to soldiers from that country who served in Afghanistan—reasoning that Medal of Honor is just a game took over after a tersely worded introduction.
Read More

It’s not quite the prerequisite one might be used to seeing for a college course: “basic knowledge of and experience playing StarCraft.”

The University of Florida is offering a class utilizing StarCraft, in order to assist in the teaching of resource management skills, a theory which Ph.D Candidate and instructor Mate Poling outlined for the Technology Review (thanks Joystiq), saying, “In StarCraft you're managing a lot of different units and groups of different capacities.”

He added, “It's not a stretch to think of that in the business world or in the work of a healthcare administrator.”

Additionally:

Poling points out that people who manage hospitals, factories, small businesses and, say, nuclear power plants all have to manage people who have different abilities, and that they might have learned a thing or two about this process from StarCraft, which demands the same kind of resource and unit management. Read More

An excellent piece on the UK’s Telegraph website rips Defense Secretary Liam Fox for his prattle about EA’s upcoming Medal of Honor game, while also outlining the impact Fox’s comments will have on game sales and how such attacks by “outsiders” raise the cackles hackles of gamers.

Fox totally missed the boat in his condemnation of the game as he argued for its ban in the UK, claiming that the game was “un-British,” even though British forces do not factor into the game at all.

If Fox wanted to make a reasonable argument about the game, as Nick Cowen explains, he could have chosen a different tack: Read More

Imagine what the anti-videogame populace might say in regards to a game about serial killing, which features the preset characters Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz and Aileen Wuornos.

Created by someone nicknamed Crimson King, and unearthed by an Examiner columnist, Serial Killer is billed as a “roguelike” game (akin to a simply animated dungeon crawler). Read More

While Iowa State University is home to anti-videogame researchers Craig Anderson and Douglas Gentile, the school is also about to launch a videogame development competition for its students.

Armed with a $50,000 grant from the Motorola Foundation, faculty members Anson Call, an Associate Professor of Integrated Studio Arts, and Chris Johnson, a Lecturer in Computer Science, are running the competition, which will feature teams of three compete in a trio of categories: serious games, PC/console games and mobile games. The makeup of teams will consist of one designer, one programmer and one business major.
Read More

While the turnaround time of Flash games based on popular news events is generally rather amazing, one such game based on the recent hostage tragedy that occurred on a bus in the Philippines earlier this week is drawing criticism.

A disgruntled ex-policeman named Rolando Mendoza boarded a bus of tourists in Manila in a misguided attempt to win his job back. After a long standoff, which the consensus says was mismanaged, police finally stormed the bus and killed Mendoza, but not before he murdered eight of the tourists, all of whom were from Hong Kong.

The game based on this event is named Bus Hostage by Policeman and appears on the Newgrounds site, where it has received scathing reviews (0.95 out of 5.00) and comments, for both its subject matter and buggy, awful gameplay. The game itself has players attempting to shoot Mendoza through the windows of the bus, asking participants “Can you stop him and blow his brain?”

Among the comments: Read More

As Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff considers submitting an amicus brief that would support the videogame industry side in the Schwarzenegger v. EMA Supreme Court case, "pro-family" groups and other legislators from his state held a press conference to try and get him to change his mind.

Utah Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka, Laura Bunker (pictured), Chairwoman of United Families Utah and State Representatives Jim Dunnigan (R) and Julie Fisher (R) all gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday, according to a story in the Deseret News.

Bunker stated, “As the most family-oriented state in the nation, Utah should support this law that promotes the protection of children.”
Read More

Founded by people behind the Sarcastic Gamer website, the Extra Life charity drive encourages teams of gamers, or sole participants, to play games for a 24-hour stretch in order to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network.

The 2008 and 2009 events raised a total of $302,000, all of which went directly to the charity. The best part: anyone can join in and raise funds simply by registering, creating a personal fundraising page and then hitting up friends and relatives as sponsors.

Extra Life 2010 kicks off on Saturday, October 16 at 8:00 AM in participant’s local time zone. This year’s event also boasts involvement by a team of editors from IGN, which is sure to raise awareness of the event, and hopefully donations as well.

Entrants in this year’s challenge can also choose to contribute proceeds to the Children’s Miracle Network hospital of their choice.

Blizzard and Chinese game operator Net Ease will officially launch the World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King just a few short weeks after it was finally approved in the Asian country.

According to a joint press release from Blizzard and Net Ease, the expansion will go live in mainland China on August 31, almost two years after it was launched (November 2008) in Europe and North America.

Net Ease CEO William Ding stated, “We are fully prepared on all fronts to provide great service and support to all of the new and returning players throughout China, and we look forward to welcoming them to Northrend.”
Read More