CCP and its customers are organizing a charity drive within the popular space MMO EVE Online to raise funds for earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan. Sanctioned by CCP but mostly community-driven, players are converting PLEX, an in-game item that represents 30 days of game time, into cash to donate to Japan.

"PLEX can be purchased for real world currency at any time through our website. They are also sold in-game on the markets by other players so you can even play EVE without paying a cent, as long as you have enough in-game currency to buy a PLEX," Christian "CCP Wrangler" Danhill, senior community manager for EVE Online, told Ars Technica. "Selling any in-game item for real world currency is forbidden, however, so this is a special exception to 'cashing out.'"

Kotaku will host a charity event on March 24 at the Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in downtown Denver to benefit the Japanese Red Cross Society. The Japan Earthquake Relief Fundraiser will be hosted by Brian Crecente and is described as similar to Kotaku's 2009 Child's Play fundraiser, which drew about 400 people. Here is more from Crecente:

Following Friday's devastating earthquake, several major Japanese game publishers have announced campaigns to help with relief efforts. This is much needed as the latest statistics estimate that nearly 10,000 people have died and 15,000 are missing.

Tokyo gubernatorial candidate Shigefumi Matsuzawa says that if he is elected he will ban violent video games because they create murderers. Matsuzawa banned a handful of games he found objectionable as the governor of Kanagawa, but as the governor of Tokyo he would get serious about banning violent games. Matsuzawa sees violent video games as a leading cause of youth violence.

I'm not sure what the murder rate is in Japan, or what the average age of a convicted murderers is, but I doubt there's any scientific data to back up anything Matsuzawa says about video games. Below is a statement from Matsuzawa outlining how he feels on the subject:

One document leaked by Wikileaks (from the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai) shows that at least some in the U.S. State Department might have a dim view of gamers. Buried in a leaked cable entitled "SHANGHAI SCHOLARS EXPRESS CONCERN OVER DELAY IN SIX-PARTY" (September 2008 ) is an interesting evaluation of North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Il's three sons and a mention of video games.

Amidst the details on six-party talks, Kim Jong-Il's health, the benefits of removing North Korea from the State Sponsors of Terror list, and "future leaders" of the country, is a mention of KJI's youngest son and his fascination with video games:

In addition to being censored in Germany, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops will be receiving a few trims for its release in Japan as well.

A few weeks ago, Square-Enix, who is distributing the title in Japan, announce that in order to comply with standards set by the CERO ratings board, it would be removing “all scenes of dismemberment and ‘expressions of brutality.’”  These cuts would apply to the both the subtitled and the dubbed versions of the game but the publisher promised that the zombie mode would remain untouched.

Turns out, that’s not the case.

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.

Earlier this week we ran a story in which the Japanese Computer Entertainment Suppliers Association (CESA), citing data from a study conducted by Tokyo University's Baba Lab, said that piracy of games for portable devices cost the gaming industry over $41 billion between 2004 and 2009.

GP commenters noted a flaw, perhaps, in the survey methodology, while similarly, a TechDirt reader came up with a list of four reasons why, in his opinion, the study should carry no weight:

Given that taxes plays a major-role in the ability of states and countries to lure videogame developers, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at results from a recent KPMG study (PDF) into the tax competitiveness of 95 cities and countries around the world.

The guide rated the locales using a Total Tax Index (TTI), which was described as a measure of “the total taxes paid by corporations in a particular location, expressed as a percentage of total taxes paid by corporations in the U.S.” This methodology uses the U.S. as a benchmark with a score of 100.0*.

The TTI rankings placed Mexico first among countries, with a 59.9 score, indicating that total tax costs in the country are 40.1 percent lower than in the U.S. Canada came in second place, followed by the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, the U.S., Germany, Italy, Japan and France.

A new entry in the latest edition of the always excellent Escapist Magazine uses Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney as an entry point into examining the peculiar Japanese legal system.

The writer notes the similarities between Phoenix Wright constantly battling “seemingly impossible odds” in-game to statistics from Japan which indicate that people charged with a crime are convicted 99% of the time.

Odds are so overwhelmingly stacked against defendants in Japan that one defense attorney in the country described the job as “one of the toughest in the world,” and reportedly only won five cases in over 25 years, which the piece explains, “…isn't a bad record, many attorneys go their whole careers without winning a case.”

Before going on to further detail the cultural aspects and politics that contribute to such a system—and the changes that are currently trying to be implemented—the author writes:

In response to CNN’s RapeLay coverage, a Japanese artist has penned an open letter to the network decrying its reporting of the matter.

Nogami Takeshi wrote that his career began drawing hentai manga (sexually explicit anime comic), though most of his current work was described as non-hentai manga. As such, Nogami calls himself “well qualified to object to the views you present.”

After noting that, “... we Japanese enjoy one of the most safe and peaceful societies on Earth,” Nogami admits that Japanese society does have its problems, but that, “I frankly do not think that you are the ones to tell us [about the problems]."

He continued:

Illegal downloaders of a recently released Japanese erotic game are running into malware that gathers their personal information and uploads it to a website.

A pirated version of the game Cross Days is causing the mayhem, according to a story on Torrent Freak. Those downloading a certain illegal version of the game run a program that appears to be an installer, but turns out to be a Trojan, which grabs the user’s IP address. The virus then presents some kind of survey, which further mines more personal information from the user. All the data, along with a screenshot of the pirate’s desktop, is then uploaded to a website.

Those who had their information uploaded can have it removed from the site it has been posted to, states the site Japanator, but users must admit that they tried to steal the game (by clicking a button).

Nintendo has been a master at reinventing the DS handheld, one way to extend the product’s lifecycle. Another way to lengthen the viability of a product is to find untapped markets for it, and this appears to be another road that the Japanese company is exploring.

Noting that the DS is already used in Japanese museums, art galleries and aquariums, Nintendo’s Shigeri Miyamoto discussed another pending use for the DS—Japanese classrooms. Miyamoto indicated that the compact game machine would serve as an educational aid and teaching tool when Nintendo rolls out DS systems in an unspecified amount of junior high and elementary schools early next year.
 

A piece of Tokyo legislation that would forbid visual depictions of sexually stimulating characters—who appear to be under 18 years of age—has been put on hold.

Anime News Network reports that the legislation was first proposed on February 24. In a later post on the subject, the site stated that the Democratic Party of Japan indicated that it would postpone a vote on the measure until at least June.

Kotaku reported that several well-known Japanese manga creators appeared at the Tokyo Government Office to voice their displeasure with the proposed legislation. Kotaku interpreted the legislation as blanketing all virtual characters, including those in videogames.

While not required, it appears Nintendo has changed the packaging on its 15+ rated games in Japan in order to offer a visual cue to consumers.

Silicon Era writes that, beginning this year, all Nintendo games rated CERO C (15+) and higher will be packaged in boxes with black borders. The change came about as a result of Nintendo introducing its first CERO D (17+) rated game in Japan, Zangeki no Reginleiv.

As Silcon Era notes, the change was in no way mandated by Japan’s Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO), but is more a method of self-policing implemented purely at Nintendo’s discretion.

As an added (and perhaps unintentional) benefit, the black boxed games will also stand out from the more common white boxes at retail.


Thanks Andrew!

Square Enix President and CEO Yoichi Wada provided some insight and opinions on the Japanese videogame market in a recent interview with Edge-Online.

Wada, who is also Chairman of Japan’s Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA), a trade organization designed to promote interactive entertainment, was queried on how piracy is affecting Japanese game makers:

Piracy does a lot of damage, but within the Asian region the majority of damage comes from outside of Japan – not including the Nintendo DS. The R4 continues to inflict tremendous damage to our business. So in tandem with Nintendo, we have brought the issue to court. And we have been able to reach a certain degree of success from the court rulings.

When asked why Western games appear to be shunned by Japanese gamers, Wada answered:

Well, actually, I’ve found the person that is prejudiced is actually the retailer and not the actual players. The retailers have a prejudice against overseas titles, and they won’t procure them.

Wada was asked for his take on a comment from Capcom’s Keiji Inafune that Japan’s game industry is finished:

To say something so extreme is surprising. I’m surprised Capcom allowed Inafune to say that at TGS. My message by proxy for the Japanese developers who would have heard such a discouraging message is that if they are willing today, then they definitely have the capability to change and face tomorrow.

Head over to Edge for the full article, which also details what’s next on Wada’s games-to-be-played list and the possibility of using non-Japanese developers on future Square Enix titles.

A trailer for a rather bizarre erotic Japanese game imagines an alien ship accidentally taking out the Prime Minister of Japan, aliens then substituting a girl for the PM and brainwashing all mankind in order to enable the ruse.

My Girlfriend is the President (thanks? Kotaku) is an entry in the eroge category of games, and appears to be on sale already in Japan, as a 10/30/2009 date is listed at the end of the trailer.

Perhaps even better than the trailer for the game is a mashup video that combines music from the game and interjects current heads of state. Click here to go to YouTube for that one.

Both videos are rather tame and should be safe for work viewing.

Capcom’s Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man, sounded off on the current state of Japan’s videogame business at last week’s Tokyo Game Show.

When asked what he thought of this year’s TGS, Inafune gave a thumb’s down before responding:

Japan is over. We’re done. Our game industry is finished.

Destructoid has the video of Inafune’s remarks. He did attempt a little damage control by noting that Capcom’s games on display at TGS were “kick ass.”

We’ve heard video games blamed for a lot of crazy things over the years but the “death of our planet”? 

Well, that’s a new one.

Yoshiyuki Tomino (left), creator of the long-running Mobile Suit Gundam series, delivered the keynote at Japan’s CEDEC 2009 game developers’ conference and offered a rather strong negative opinion on the subject of video games and how they affect our lives.

I think that video games are evil.  [Gaming] is not a type of activity that provides any support to our daily lives, and all these consoles are just consuming electricity! Let's say we have about three billion people on this planet wasting their time, bringing no productivity at all. Add 10 billion more people, and what would happen to our planet? Video games are assisting the death of our planet!

Those are some pretty surprising comments coming from a man whose franchise has spawned more than 100 video games over the last couple decades. Tomino, who thinks nothing’s bested Tetris since it came out over 20 years ago, offered the attending developers advice on how to proceed from here on out.

You have to find the median -- that games are not evil, perhaps not necessarily good either, but something that can be considered a pastime…

 

This is what I want to tell you: I want you to create a game that does not negatively affect our daily lives and is something that is considered more productive.

AE:  I can’t help but imagine a slack-jawed look of disbelief from the game developers in attendance.

Via: Gamasutra

-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Senior Correspondent Andrew Eisen…

The debate over graphic Japanese sex games such as the disgusting and controversial RapeLay continues with word that the United Nations is stepping in.

At a meeting earlier this month, the U.N.'s Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called for a ban on explicit video games and anime. As reported by Anime News Network, the committee urged Japan to ban "the sale of video games or cartoons involving rape and sexual violence against women which normalize and promote sexual violence against women and girls."

The committee also expressed concern "at the normalization of sexual violence in the State party as reflected by the prevalence of pornographic video games and cartoons featuring rape, gang rape, stalking and the sexual molestation of woman and girls."

Via: Kotaku

Is your handheld game system making you lonely?

Rika Kayama, a Japanese psychiatrist, thinks that it may be.

In an op-ed penned for a Japanese newspaper, Kayama claims that Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP are partially to blame for a sense of isolation experienced by some of her youthful patients. On that score, Kayama writes:

Today’s youth immerse themselves in worlds of their own right before our eyes, where they can live secluded from the rest of us. Feeding into these one person worlds, personal devices such as mobile phones and handheld game systems like the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS come on to the market one after another.

The ‘make your own world anywhere’ idea has gone too far, to the point that even on the train one sees people shamelessly putting on makeup or eating cups of instant noodles as though the train carriage was their own room. …

I feel that an increasing number of people are coming to my office saying, ‘Even when I’m in a crowd I’m lonely.’ Even when they are at a popular singer’s concert or when reading a best-selling novel, these patients can’t feel any solidarity for those next to them or those reading the same book.

GP: Is Kayama onto something, or is she simply rehashing the old school notion that games are inherently isolating?

Via: What They Play

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars has been tagged with a "Z" rating (adults only) for the Japanese market, reports Siliconera:

All of the Grand Theft Auto games have been rated CERO Z so this isn’t really a shocker. However, Chinatown Wars will be the first Nintendo DS game with the rating and the second CERO Z game on a Nintendo platform. Killer 7 from Capcom is the other CERO Z rated game on Nintendo hardware.

CERO is the Japanese equivalent of the ESRB.

Via: Kotaku

Yesterday GamePolitics reported on a study detailed in the current issue of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin which found that violent game players displayed aggressive behavior while those who player more prosocial games exhibited helpful behavior. The study actually encompasses three seperate research projects which took place in Japan, Singapore and the United States.

But a researcher from Texas A&M disputes those findings. Prof. Chris Ferguson, who has frequently studied video game issues, commented on yesterday's report which was authored by, among others, University of Michigan's Brad Bushman and Douglas Gentile of Iowa State.

Of the Bushman-Gentile study Ferguson told GamePolitics:

You know trouble is brewing right in the beginning as they start with the false premise that there is an established relationship between video games and aggression. The authors engage in what's called citation bias, which means they only cover research they like and ignore anything they don't like. This is just not good science. Since this literature review is so slanted, that worries me about how they collected and analyzed their data.  

In [one study] they note that there is a high correlation between prosocial exposure and violent game exposure. This suggests that these may be some of the same games that have both kinds of content! They then suggest that there wasn't a problem with multicollinearity (basically means if you include 2 predictors that are too similar it can screw up your results), yet they only say they had no VIF less than 10...yet even something as low as 4 or 5 is pretty high. So multicollinearity may have been a bigger problem than the authors try to suggest.  Therefore, there may be some serious problems with their analyses here.  

[Also] the authors say that prosocial exposure and violence exposure were very highly correlated and then claim they have completely opposite effects. That is just highly unlikely.

In [another study] the standardized coefficient between playing prosocial games and prosocial behavior... suggests that playing prosocial games had almost no overlap with prosocial behavior one year later. Here we have yet another example of a "significant" finding being touted even though it's so small you'd never notice it in the real world. They also assert causality from correlational data which they can't do no matter how they analyze it.

The final study is probably the best of the three, but it's also the most artificial. Indeed, a fair number of their participants express suspicion about what went on. These kinds of studies have a high risk of "demand characteristics" In other words, students will give you the results they think you want and they won't admit to it afterward. Also the resultant effect sizes are all pretty small.

So, at best, a mountain is being made out of a molehill here, and at worst there are some pretty serious flaws in all analyses. I do worry about the "tone" from this research group. They do not comprehensively cover the literature honestly, and appear to have a hypothesis that they favor from the get-go. That tone would lead me to question their objectivity and, as such, the quality of their analyses.

Bottom line  - I doubt you'd see prosocial games solve the world's ills anymore than violent games have caused any outbreak of youth violence. 

A report published in the current issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin maintains that playing pro-social games increases helping behavior by participants while playing violent games increases hurtful behavior.

GamePolitics has previously reported on the research, which combines the results from three separate studies conducted in the U.S., Japan and Singapore. But a press release issued today by the University of Michigan offers new insight about the methodologies used by the researchers involved. These include UM's own Brad Bushman (left) and Roland Huesmann as well as Douglas Gentile of Iowa State. Said Bushman:

These studies show the same kind of impact on three different age groups from three very different cultures. In addition, the studies use different analytic approaches---correlational, longitudinal and experimental. The resulting triangulation of evidence provides the strongest possible proof that the findings are both valid and generalizable...

 

[The research] suggests there is an upward spiral of prosocial gaming and helpful behavior, in contrast to the downward spiral that occurs with violent video gaming and aggressive behavior...

 

Taken together, these findings make it clear that playing video games is not in itself good or bad for children. The type of content in the game has a bigger impact than the overall amount of time spent playing.

Perhaps the most interesting experiment involved 161 U.S. college students. From the press release: 

After playing either a prosocial, violent, or neutral game, participants were asked to assign puzzles to a randomly selected partner. They could choose from puzzles that were easy, medium or hard to complete. Their partner could win $10 if they solved all the puzzles. Those who played a prosocial game were considerably more helpful than others, assigning more easy puzzles to their partners.  And those who had played violent games were significantly more likely to assign the hardest puzzles.

Bushman discusses the study in this brief video.

VG Researcher has additional info...

UPDATE: Here is the UM press release.

A Japanese industry standards group has issued a ban on the controversial RapeLay and games of its ilk, according to Bloomberg.

While reports last week that the Ethics Organization of Computer Software had taken such a step were premature, the ban, which carries no legal authority, has now been confirmed. 233 Japanese software firms belong to EOCS, including 90% of the country's makers of adult software. In issuing the ban EOCS made reference to a February motion in the British Parliament which condemned RapeLay.

Such games are a thriving business in Japan, Bloomberg reports:

The adult software games industry had sales of 34.1 billion yen ($353 million) in 2007...

Computer games containing rape scenes are readily available in Japanese stores. Yodobashi Camera Co., an electronics retailer, sells ‘Rape!Rape!Rape!’... at its store in Akihabara, a shopping area of Tokyo famous for stores popular with fans of the Japanese cartoons known as manga.

With RapeLay requiring players to assault a 12-year-old girl character, Bloomberg notes that possession of real child pornography, much less the virtual kind, is not illegal in Japan. Former U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer criticized Japan over the issue in January of this year:

Only Japan allows people to possess these hideous images without penalty...  Is it not time for Japan to find a way to punish the guilty?

Although the EOCS ban lacks the force of law, Singapore's Straits Times reports that most Japanese retailers will follow the edict.

The embers of the RapeLay controversy were stirred a bit yesterday with a report that the game - and others of its ilk - had been banned in Japan. Not by the government, mind you, but by an industry standards organization.

As it turned out, the report was false, but it prompted a great deal of hand-wringing about Japanese censorship. And yet, RapeLay is already banned - in advance - in the United States by an industry standards organization: the ESRB. Again, it's not a government ban, but it is a de facto ban.

Think about it. Video game retailers won't carry unrated games, which would require RapeLay's publisher to submit the software to the ESRB for a rating. Given its digusting subject matter, RapeLay would certainly be tagged with the quickest AO (adults only) rating ever issued by the ESRB. If you think back to the 2007 Manhunt 2 situation, you'll recall that major retailers won't carry AO-rated games and console manufacturers won't license them. That last bit wouldn't be a problem for RapeLay, of course, since it's a PC game.

Yes, the game could still be sold online by independents. Even governments have a hard time stopping that. But the AO rating is retail death and everyone in the video game business understands that. No publisher would waste their time and money submitting a RapeLay to the ESRB, which is why I maintain that such games are banned in advance. I don't have a problem with any of this, by the way. It's how the system was designed to work. True, there are occasional calls for a marketable AO rating. But the ESRB would probably need to create an XXX rating to accomodate games like RapeLay if AO ever became acceptable to Wal-Mart and GameStop.

And while RapeLay's developers are within their rights to create a game based upon sexual violence and pedophilia, retailers are certainly within theirs not to carry the game. Women's groups are free to protest its messages. And the rest of us are free to be creeped out by RapeLay.

Penn Jillette has weighed in on the controversy over Japanese PC game RapeLay in a YouTube video.

The comedian argues against banning such games:

Prosecuting thought crimes is wrong...

 

[Critics'] complaint is that this game normalizes sexual violence. I think that blaming a video game for rape is normalizing violent sexual behavior. What that says is that we are all rapists and that rape is just under the surface of us and all we need is a video game to just push us a little way.

 

What blaming the video game does is it shows compassion for the rapist. It shows understanding. At some level, in some small amount, it says, "It's not really the rapist's fault; it's society's fault for putting this stuff out here." And I think that the rapist deserves no understanding and no compassion whatsoever.

GP: Thanks to GamePolitics reader Thomas McKenna for alerting us to the video...

A leading copyright enforcement official in Japan has likened individuals who pirate Nintendo DS games to terrorists.

tech.radar reports that Yutaka Kubota (left), who heads Japan's Association of Copyright for Computer Software, made the comment to Famitsu magazine:

This is an issue that affects our national interests and, personally, I see it as a form of information terrorism that is crushing Japan's industry.

tech.radar also notes that Kubota's organization has close ties to Nintendo. The DS manufacturer claims that 120 million bootleg copies of DS games were downloaded through the end of 2007. Such activity is not illegal in Japan, but pending legislation would make such downloading a crime.

In the wake of the controversy generated by RapeLay, one of Japan's political parties has issued a general condemnation against computer games featuring forced sex.

The news comes by way of erotic games site Sankaku Complex (NSFW):

Japan’s Koumeito party, long a member of the ruling coalition, has condemned adult games featuring sexual coercion and violence as being a highly negative influence on Japan’s tiny rates of sex crimes. They are calling for a ban or further restrictions on their sale.

GP: I'll confess to having little knowledge of Japanese politics. Meanwhile, Sankaku Complex veers off into a rant, as one might expect for a site that supports such games, so I'll just leave it there.

Via: Kotaku

Just when you thought the swine flu panic was winding down, Develop reports that the virus may impact Capcom's scheduled E3 appearance.

Japan, which has seen a recent jump in swine flu cases, has been closing schools in Hyogo and Osaka prefectures at the request of the government. The outbreak could keep Japanese employees of the Resident Evil publisher away from E3:

Capcom has told Develop that its Japanese arm remains undecided on whether it will be attending the upcoming E3 event in Los Angeles. The publisher has stated however that it will still have a presence at the event with US and UK teams attending...

A spokesperson for Capcom... stated that Japan’s tough travel regulations has impacted on Capcom Japan’s options for E3...

Capcom did however clarify that it will still have a big presence at E3... “The show is in Los Angeles and we have offices in America, so E3 is still on” the spokesperson added.