GAME came out of administration over the weekend with a new owner, and a former managing director has returned to run the company, according to GamesIndustry International. The new owner is Baker Acquisitions, who were advised by OpCapita. The firm has bought all the UK assets of GAME, and will keep 333 stores open, saving nearly 3,200 jobs. The company hopes to re-employ a small number of the head office staff.

BioWare co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka has written an open letter to the community about the ending to Mass Effect 3 and what the company plans to do in the future to make fans feel a little bit happier. In that lengthy letter posted on the BioWare forums, Muzyka admits that the company's first instinct is to defend the work they have done on Mass Effect 3, but at the end of the day he has to acknowledge the will of the fans who were clearly not satisfied with how the game ended.

France's video game trade association Syndicat National du Jeu Vidéo announced at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this morning a new brand to promote French video game creativity. The brand, "Le Game," is backed by the trade group and the French government, and has the backing of Game Connection USA. So what is Le Game all about, you wonder?

Normally when we write about a broadband service provider it's usually to report some horrendous thing they are doing to their customers like throttling their connections or charging them extra for data usage. 

Seamless Entertainment studio director Dan Mahaga says that the best way to fight piracy is to pay more attention to consumers who buy your games. Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Mahaga said creating games that have a perceived "value" are less likely to be pirated and more likely to be purchased by consumers.

Double Fine's Kickstarter campaign for the "Double Fine Adventure" game project has surpassed $1 million. Originally they were asking for $500,000 in funding but within eight hours of launching the appeal they had raked in well over $800,000 for a point-and-click adventure game and a documentary to be filmed by 2 Player Productions. Earlier in the day Tim Schafer said that any money over the initial amount would be used to bring the game to other formats.

Game Developer David Braben (Elite creator) tells Eurogamer that the consumer version of the Raspberry Pi device (a $25 - $35 credit-card sized computer designed to give children of all economic backgrounds the ability to learn important computer skills - will be made available to the public in the third quarter of this year. A pre-order system for the developer version of the Raspberry Pi will be unveiled in the near future, Braben tells Eurogamer.

CD Projekt RED, makers of The Witcher 2, say that there are real issues that could arise from Microsoft attempting to block the use of used games in its next generation console. Rumors have surfaced that Microsoft plans to block the use of used games on its new platform - a rumor many game developers heralded as a "good idea." Used games have become a punching bag for publishers and developers in the last several years who spend a lot of money developing games only to see marginal returns.

Speaking to Eurogamer, EA Partners executive producer Jeff Gamon says that it will not use an Online Pass or code system for the upcoming Syndicate game. This is obviously great news for consumers who absolutely loathe this new practice by publishers such as EA, THQ, and Ubisoft.

Gamon said that EA decided to leave Online Pass out of the re-imagining of the dystopian Bullfrog strategy game classic to appeal to more players.

League of Legends developer Riot Games let us know that they, have officially announced their opposition to controversial legislation under consideration in Congress: the U.S. House of Representatives’ Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate’s PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). The company's CEO, Brandon Beck, took to the official forums for the game (which has 11-million-players, for the record) to say that these two bills in their present form are unacceptable:

Update: Apparently the original source of our story was off by about $40,000, so we've updated the story to reflect that proper number. We apologize for the error.

In a brief statement on the official Epic Games forums, PR Manager Dana Crowley shared the company's position on the Stop Piracy Online Act. The short story is that they do not support it in its current form.

Epic also acknowledges that they are a member of the Entertainment Software Association, which strongly supports the house bill that will be taken up again by the House Judiciary community on January 23. 

From the Epic forums:

While we often take publishers and developers to task for the things they do that are generally anti-consumer, it's always nice to write stories about the good things they do for fans. Gearbox is a company that does go out of its way to treat its gamer base with dignity, respect and fondness.

GameStop is doing something a bit unprecedented: it is honoring ancient pre-orders for Duke Nukem Forever. GamePro asked the retailer if they would honor pre-orders taken just after the game was originally announced many years ago. The company confirmed that it would.

"With a long-anticipated release like Duke Nukem Forever, we encourage customers who pre-ordered more than a year ago to verify their reservation with their local store prior to launch," a GameStop representative told GamePro. "Provided the customer has a receipt, we will honor even those pre-orders taken long ago. At this time, we expect that all pre-order customers will receive Duke's Big Package at time of purchase, regardless of when the reservation was made."

Duke Nukem Forever releases June 10 on various platforms, with a demo coming June 3. Obviously it is rated "M" for "Mature" by the ESRB.

Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt on Wednesday proclaimed the company's strong opposition to new legislation that calls for shutting down access to file-sharing websites that offer allegedly copyrighted material. The new law proposes that the government blacklist these sites, take them offline, and demand that search providers such as Google delist them from their search indexes.

Schmidt argued that laws such as these set a very “disastrous precedent” for destroying free speech all over the world.

"If there is a law that requires DNSs [domain name systems] to do X, and it's passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president of the United States and we disagree with it, then we would still fight it," Schmidt told reporters at a London conference. "If it's a request, the answer is we wouldn't do it. If it's a discussion, we wouldn't do it."

Microsoft has responded to reports that a new dashboard update was causing some older Xbox 360 systems to have a "disc-read error." The company said that the error was actually being caused by disc-reading algorithms, and not defects in Xbox 360 hardware.

The error “is tied to a change in the disc-reading algorithms in a recent software update,” a company spokesperson tells Develop. “It is not specific to older or newer versions of Xbox 360.”

The new firmware offers new anti-piracy measures and 1GB more space for disc-based content. Microsoft says that a "small number” of machines are not compatible with this firmware. In those cases, Microsoft is replacing those consoles with new ones.

Affected users will receive a new Xbox 360S and 12 months of Xbox Live Gold for free, the company said.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum's "The Art of Video Games" exhibit selections have been chosen, with some familiar titles making the cut. Chosen by an online vote, the community chose such titles as The Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid, BioShock, Uncharted, and Shadow of the Colossus. Five games will be playable at the exhibition which will run through September 30 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

The exhibits will be divided up by eras. The full list can be found below:

Era 1: Start!

• Atari VCS: Pac-Man, Pitfall, Space Invaders, Combat
• Colecovision: Donkey Kong, Pitfall II: Lost Caverns, Zaxxon, Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
• Mattel Intellivision, Tron: Maze-Atron, Advanced Dungons and Dragons, Star Strike, Utopia

Era 2: 8-Bit

You may remember our recent story on Gameloft's horrible policy regard Android games (one time purchase with no chance of getting a new copy of the game if something should go awry with the data on your Android device); Well apparently public scrutiny of that policy has caused Gameloft to  adjust its position. Gameloft has announced that its policy regarding Android HD+ games sold through its store has been changed to allow customers to re-download a game that they have already paid for.

Gameloft’s original policy did not allow consumers to re-download games they already purchased through the website for any Android device regardless of the reason. If you had data problems or upgraded your phone, you would not be able to re-install the games you have purchased from Gameloft. Instead you would have to re-purchase those games or go without.

Gameloft says that these changes will take some time to implement.

Source: Android Police

As part of its annual awards, the National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers Corp. will honor the founder of GamePolitics with a special award.

Dennis McCauley, who also wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer in addition to manning the helm here, will be receiving a special Honorary Award for his “contributions to the gaming community and gaming journalism.”

Additionally, 209 nominees were announced across 47 categories for awards designed to pay respect to the interactive entertainment industry’s best in the fields of art technology and production. Sony led the way with 47 total nominations, followed by Electronic Arts with 28, Activision with 20 and Eidos with 18.

Game of the Year nominees include Batman: Arkham Asylum, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Batman: Arkham Asylum also led the way among games in total nominations, with 17, followed closely by Uncharted 2’s 16 nominations.

A voting body of 640 journalists and writers picked the nominees. Winners will be announced on February 27.

Congratulations Dennis!

A fan of the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was so impressed with developer DICE’s efforts to include dedicated server support in the title he sent the company a check for $60.00.

The $60.00 was sent in lieu of Eddie from New Jersey (the letter writer) using the funds to purchase Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which is opting to use a matchmaking service in place of dedicated servers for PC users. Eddie suggested to DICE that they use the funds to aid development on the upcoming game.

DICE posted a copy of the letter and check on their Battlefield website (thanks Joystiq), thanking Eddie and writing, “It's moments like this that make all the late nights and weekends of crunching to make the best game possible all worth it.”

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is due out March 2, 2010 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

FarmVille users on Facebook have taken advantage of a program launched by the games developer to donate almost half a million dollars to a pair of nonprofit agencies in Haiti.

Zynga launched Sweet Seeds for Haiti about three weeks ago reports VentureBeat, offering its 56.0 million users a chance to make a difference by having a portion of the price of virtual sweet potato seeds sold in the game go to the nonprofits FONKOZE and FATEM.

FATEM President Jacky Poteau said that over 500 children have been affected positively by the donations, allowing them a chance to escapes poverty and gain a better education.

FONKOZE is an alternative bank for the poor, while FATEM dedicates itself to improving the basic needs of the community, with a focus on education and alleviating hunger.

So the next time someone tells you to stop wasting time on Facebook, tell them you’re simply making the world a better place.

A BusinessWeek list of the Top 40 companies in the world is topped by none other than Japanese videogame maker Nintendo.

The list, commissioned by BusinessWeek from consulting firm A.T. Kearney, started out with the 2,500 largest publicly listed companies in the world, then took only those with a minimum of $10 billion in sales. Further extrapolation thinned the herd to companies with at least 25% of their earnings coming from outside their home region. Finally, companies were rated on sales growth and value creation over the past five years.

Nintendo’s sales have risen 36% annually over the past five years according to BW, which added:

Despite the hard times of the past year, Nintendo's continued emphasis on innovation has helped the company develop must-haves such as the DS handheld game machine and the Wii console, which outsold rival offerings from Sony and Microsoft .

Google took second place, followed by Apple in third.

VentureBeat has word on a new website that takes some of the guilt out of playing videogames.

GamesThatGive.com donates 70 percent of its ad-driven revenue to charity and keeps a running tally of the total donated to-date (as of this posting it was $1787.73) at the top if its webpage. Charities that benefit include Feeding America, The Wilderness Society, Unicef and the United Way.

Available games include versions of Solitaire,  Sudoku, Gems,  Blackjack, Smashteroids and Bubble Burst.

The site was founded by CEO Adam Archer, a self-proclaimed “backpacker turned software engineer.” On the website’s blog, Archer explained how he hopes the donations will build over time:
 

On GamesThatGive, your micro-donation is the equivalent of a raindrop. The more frequently and the longer you play, and the better you score, the more micro-donations you generate. When you play games on GamesThatGive, when you invite your friends to play as well, when they invite their friends, and on and on, the micro-donations add up.

As GamePolitics has previously reported, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is a tireless promoter of his state's growing video game industry.

Yesterday, the Guv made his support official. In a proclamation designating September 9th as Video Game Innovation Day, Patrick looked ahead to the launch of The Beatles Rock Band and harkened back to the creation of the original video game, Spacewar!, at MIT: 

Whereas In 1961, MIT students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell and Wayne Wiitanen invented the game Spacewar!, one of the first video games ever created; and

Whereas Throughout the Bay State, innovative companies are developing new gaming technologies from diagnostics to social media.  Our universities feature programs and curriculum that support the growth of the videogame industry; and

Whereas On this day, Harmonix Music Systems, the Cambridge-based inventors of Rock Band and developer of the original Guitar Hero games, is releasing The Beatles: Rock Band™, a game that will not only bring the creativity and joy of The Beatles music to countless people, but will introduce the Fab Four to new generations of fans,

Now, Therefore, I, Deval L. Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim September 9th, 2009 to be,  Video Game Innovation Day...

Mass Technology Leadership Blog points out that the official fun will continue next week when 300 tech executives, members of the Mass Technology Leadership Cluster, will gather to celebrate the proclamation and release research findings on the state's video game industry. If you're local to Cambridge, the event is free.

Not to beat our own drum (well, maybe a little), but both GamePolitics and parent company the Entertainment Consumers Association drew some major print media attention this weekend.

GamePolitics was featured in the U.K.'s Times Online Weekend Playlist section which referred to GP as:

...an essential regular read for serious gamers, parents of gamers and (especially) politicians who don't know anything about the world's fastest-growing entertainment medium.

Meanwhile, USA Weekend, published by USA Today, gave props to the ECA for its discount programs available to members: 

Today's gamers always are looking to score a discount. It ain't easy... The non-profit advocacy organization[ECA] is offering a 10% discount on all games-related software and peripherals at Amazon. The membership fee is $19.99 ($14.99 for e-mails ending in .edu or .mil), which means if you buy just a few games a year, you've already earned your money back...

Members get discounts from retailers (Good Old Games) and video game rental services (GameFly), money off admission to events (the Penny Arcade Expo), not to mention room rate discounts at Hyatt hotels.

FULL DISCLOSURE DEPT: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics.

Gov. Rick Perry (R, at left) has proclaimed today "Entertainment Software Day" in Texas.

The declaration is apparently the first of its kind in the United States.

In addition, both chambers of the Texas legislature have passed resolutions recognizing the video game industry's contributions to the Lone Star State. Those resolutions were sponsored by State Sen. Bob Duell (R) and Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D), both of whom have worked on financial incentives for Texas game developers in the past.

The news comes by way of a press release from the Entertainment Software Association. The trade group which represents U.S. video game publishers enjoys a strong connection to Gov. Perry. GamePolitics readers will recall that the Guv delivered the keynote speech at E3 2008.

ESA CEO Mike Gallagher commented on the Texas-sized salute to the game biz:

The support of Governor Perry, Senator Duell and Representative Dukes for the entertainment software industry in Texas is an endorsement of the artistic and economic contributions our industry has made to the state.

These lawmakers are helping grow our industry as we work to create new jobs for Texans; boost the state’s economy; and help discover new ways computer and video games can improve the ways Americans live, work and play.

According to the ESA, Texas's game industry adds $395 million to the state's economy.

Books?

Who needs books at a library?

This Saturday is gaming day in the stacks, baby.

That's because the American Library Association has declared November 15th to be the first-ever National Gaming Day @ Your Library Day. Libraries across the country (some more than others, certainly) will celebrate the fun and educational benefits of video and board games.

In addition to online gaming events, Wizards of the Coast has donated  copies of D&D as well as Magic the Gathering to libraries so that they may run local tournaments.

ALA president Jim Rettig commented:

Gaming formats have become a valuable tool for libraries, Not only has this new format increased library usage from hard to reach users such as teens, we also have found that video games attract a variety of users and are a great vehicle to teach basic technology skills.

More info is available from the ALA.

Last month GamePolitics covered Sarcastic Gamer's Extra Life marathon, a charity event held for the benefit of Texas Children's Hospital.

Despite tough economic times, Sarcastic Gamer now reports that gamers came through in a huge way, with $115,000 raised. A joint press release issued by the hospital and the website gives more details:

Thanks to your support, over $115,000 was raised to fight pediatric cancer.  The funds raised will help provide critical dollars for research in childhood cancer as well as provide support to the families and patients being treated at Texas Children’s Cancer Center.  And hopefully everyone had fun at the same time!