In celebration of Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, the NBA All-Star Game and the fact that I want to keep our Skype credit in tact, we, much like Bill O’Reilly, will do it live! “It” being our podcast.
Another M in Metroid’s series
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
USA Today reports that Nintendo’s got another entry coming in June for Metroid called Other M, with the famous Samus Aran in action once more.
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Learning combat with America’s Army
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Foreign Policy has a whole article about America’s Army, a first-person shooter first developed by the US military that’s now available for everyone to play. Plus, there’s also some extra notes about other games as well.
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Xargon, episode three
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Here’s the last part of this nifty shareware gem, in nine videos:
Malvineous finally makes his way to Xargon’s castle, where, with the help of his belt buckle laser and the powerups, he succeeds in taking out one more reactor, and then Xargon himself. And it’s no easy feat; all those extra robo-sattelites and crawlie-creatures appearing as backups for the warlord make things difficult.
But, with a little practice and skill, you should be able to accomplish the mission, and Malvineous is finally returned home to continue his work as an anthropologist.
That concludes this shareware item as well.
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Video Game Jocks Podcast 2/22/2010
Submitted by Video Game Jocks
In this episode, we talk about X10, Uncharted 2’s Multiplayer DLC, In this episode, we talk about X10, Uncharted 2’s Multiplayer DLC, Call of Duty 7, the Newest World Warriors in Super Street Fighter IV, Heavy Rain, We Answer Your Listener Mail and More!
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Format:
75:18, 51.8 MB, MP3
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Game Time: One Jock Army
Submitted by Video Game Jocks
Here is Davide showing everyone how the One Man Army perk can easily turn into 1 tactical nuke and an easy victory for your team.
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More about the Star Trek multiplayer
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
USA Today writes more about the new multiplayer game based on the Star Trek franchise. Plus, they’ve even got an interview with Leonard Nimoy, who contributed his voice as Spock, reprising his famous role at least one more time for the new computer game.
And yeah, I know this was written about 2 weeks ago, but it’s still decidedly worth noting.
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10th anniversay of the Sims
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
USA Today has some reviews of the latest offerings for the Sims series, which has been around for about a decade now.
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Blake Stone: Planet Strike, part one
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
And now, here’s the sequel to Aliens of Gold, with Blake going on another mission to defeat Dr. Goldfire, who’s reamassed his forces of evil, and is continuing with his plot for global/galactic conquest. I’m not sure if this is formatted the same way as the first game, so I’ll be putting this in two parts each (it’s not as long as the first), with 12 videos for starters:
There are a few new enemies in addition to some returning from the prior game, although some even have their color palettes changed, and some are aliens with gibberish dialect to suggest that. The object is to destroy a special cube on each floor to disable any interception of the transporter system, and it’s worth noting that instead of a regular elevator this time, there’s a teleportation transport to use.
I’ll be putting up the rest of the game in a second post, since I usually worry about putting too many tapes in one post (I realize I may be concerned for nothing, but you never know, and that’s why it’s probably best to be careful).
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Blake Stone: Planet Strike, part two
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Here is the rest of the second game with Blake’s battle, in another 13 videos:
Among other things worth noting here are that the alien guard who takes the place of the green-uniformed star trooper from the first game may play possum more than once, so you need to be ready for the possibility that he’ll rise up again (if there’s no blood shown when he’s first down, that could be a clue). And not all the barriers here require moving a switch to open, but there’s still some.
At the showdown, you’ll first encounter a sub-boss that looks like a giant vampire rodent, and then finally Goldfire himself, who mutates into a green-colored vampirical monstrosity. Defeat him to free the planet Selon, where he’s taken up residence, and the game will be won.
Yes, this really is considerably shorter than it’s predecessor, but is still quite fun and suspenseful to play, and one of the best first-person productions of the 1990s.
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Let’s travel into The Next Space!
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
In six recordings:
A decent shoot-em-up in outer space that features ideas reminiscent of same company’s Alpha Mission games. When you bust open the special icon containers, you can then fire on the icons to switch them to a different letter reading. Pretty inventive and entertaining.
By the way, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was even set in another dimension where there’s actually air in the atmosphere (kinda like the Qward universe in Green Lantern, if memory serves), and that could explain how the icon for a flame cannon works so well. Very clever.
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Xargon, episode one
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Here is an adventure game similar to Jill of the Jungle, but with improved and advanced graphics. The first part comes in 5 videos:
An archaeologist named Malveneous Havershim has an accident that transports him into a fantastic world where he must do battle with the title warlord. At the end of this episode, you need to destroy the head honcho’s reactor system. What makes this unique is how you can gather 99 emeralds which can be used to buy more powers/energy during gameplay. Another enjoyable shareware game, and I’ll make sure to add the next parts as soon as time allows for me.
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Mahou Daisakusen magic
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Here’s a fantastic plane shooter known in the west as Sorcer Striker, in six parts. Look ahead and you’ll understand why it’s got that title:
Yep, it’s set in a medieval-like world, with aircrafts that use magical firepower. The fairy-tale land has been invaded by an evil conqueror, and it’s up to a quartet of brave fighters to put an end to the tyrannical infiltrators. You fly over amazing flying castles, battle even a giant turtle creature that’s got a fortress for a shell, and many other amazing sights. There’s also a more modern-like stage featured, but it doesn’t overshadow what really counts here, which is simply magnificent. And the music is very grand. A game well worth the ticket.
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Off Road Thunder taping
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Right after the big leap.
The followup to Off Road Challenge, this puts you in a ring-based race where you go through several different pathways, including an underground parking lot, and you’ve even got nitro burst icons to try and obtain to your advantage. It may not be quite the level of the first game, but it still delivers the goods.
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LGJ: Dante’s Infringement (or lack thereof)
Submitted by Law of the Game
While I’m still waiting for my copy of Dante’s Inferno, I have been checking out the review sites, Achievement guides and message boards in preparation for the arrival of the game. One question that keeps being asked over and over again, between many different boards, is “How is EA not being sued over this game?” While the overwhelming majority of these posts reference God of War, I have even seen mention of a “license” to Inferno (as a part of the Divine Comedy). Before I begin, I know many people might have issue with me writing this before playing, but I can assure you between the videos available online and the demo, I’ve experienced enough of the game to be able to come to a simple conclusion: No infringement here.
Let’s get the latter, more absurd suggestion off the table first. There’s not now, nor will there ever a be, a license to Inferno, the epic poem by Dante. Why is that? It’s a part of the public domain. It, as a work, would have been eligible for copyright had such laws been in place at the time, but even with the modern expansive rules, the copyright would have ended hundreds of year ago. After all, taking the normal ‘life of the author plus 70 years’ for works created after 1978 in the US, 70 years after Dante’s death was 1391. We’re well past 600 years after Dante’s death at this point; in fact, 2021 will mark the 700 year anniversary of Dante’s death, 10 times the length granted by statute. So, this particular statement was absurd even for forum posts, but the idea that Dante’s Inferno infringes on God of War isn’t much more sound.
Let’s start with a simple question: What is copyright infringement? Simply put, when someone misappropriates a copyrighted element of a work, there’s copyright infringement. This is a lot simpler to look at in other works. If you make an unauthorized copy of a musical work or movie, it’s an infringement. If you turn a book into a movie, that would be copyright infringement. But these obvious examples aren’t as easy to translate into the game world. In fact, an ideal case study is a NES game called Journey to Silius. It’s a game whose history you have to know to understand why it’s relevant to the discussion, and the Happy Video Game Nerd has a pretty good overview of the game and its backstory (if you want to see more, you might also check out Until We Win).
For those who just want the synopsis, Journey to Silius was originally a game built on the Terminator license. In fact, if you know this fact, you’ll see just how many Terminator elements remained in the finished product after SunSoft lost the Terminator license and the game became Journey to Silius. And yet, despite those elements, the game was not copyright infringement. The collection of elements that remained in Journey to Silius weren’t enough elements to infringe the original work.
Which, to many points, begs the question: Where’s the line? How much has to be infringed to be infringement? Well, that is an entirely subjective test, despite how many myths to the contrary exist on the internet. There’s not a bright line, like a number of bars in a song that becomes an infringement. Instead, it’s looking at the total amount of copying in the broad context of the work. Ultimately, all of the different legal tests are a subjective analysis of pieces in the context of the whole. From a story perspective, there is no common element between Dante’s Inferno and God of War. The complaints, by and large, have to do with the gameplay mechanics.
Obvious infringement on that count would be reuse of the engine, or, theft of the engine without a license. There’s no evidence of this whatsoever, so it’s a relatively moot point. After all, similar gameplay mechanics can be achieved with different engines, and short of a patent, you can’t protect a game’s idea. Crazy Taxi and Simpsons Road Rage showed this very concept. But for the patent held on Crazy Taxi, there was no infringement. Or rather, the only potential source of infringement would be the “look and feel” claim.
The “look and feel” claim is one that has not been successful, but rests on the idea that one software can copy the “look and feel” of another. This claim was ultimately rejected in Lotus v. Borland, but that does not mean the claim isn’t still made. It’s ultimately a weak position, but it’s the only position to make a real infringement claim for Dante’s Inferno as it relates to God of War. And ultimately that is the extent of the reality to annoyed fanboy rants on various forum sites across the internet. Not that anyone is likely terribly surprised that random forum rants have little grounding in reality, but at least the next time you run across one, you can point to this column.
Any post that is marked “Submitted by Law of the Game” and any content that appears on this blog is not legal advice. It only constitutes commentary on legal issues, and is for educational and informational purposes only. Reading this blog, replying to its posts, or any other interaction on this site does not create an attorney-client privilege between you and the author. The opinions expressed on this site are not the opinions of Vernon Goodrich, LLP. As with any legal issue that may confront you in a particular situation, you should always consult a qualified attorney familiar with the laws in your State.
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Danger Freak filming
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
I just wish the intro weren’t left to run as long as 3 minutes, but after that, we get to the main point:
It’s a stunt-racing game with motorcycles and speed boats. It’s really funny how the Yellow Submarine from the Beatles song turns up!
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Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, part six
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
And now, the last episode in the saga of Blake Stone’s first battle against the sinister Dr. Goldfire. In the last eleven parts:
The first secret floor here is accessed through the first official level this time, while to access the second one, leave one of the generators you need to destroy on the last level unwrecked and return to deal with it afterwards.
Yes, in order to complete this last part, you need to destroy several generator consoles on the last official level. That way, Dr. Goldfire’s whole network here goes kablooey.
This is the last of the Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold entries. It sure was a lot to go through, but, I did it. There would be a sequel though, Blake Stone: Planet Strike, and I’ll try to get a hold of that too in time. For now, this wraps things up quite nicely.
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Tomorrow’s Video Game Jocks Podcast: We’ll Do It Live!
Submitted by Video Game Jocks
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January sales down 13 percent
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. video game retail sales dropped 13 percent in January, another down month for the industry after a difficult 2009.
In all, Americans spent nearly $1.2 billion on video game systems, software and accessories during the month, market researcher NPD Group said Thursday.
Software sales fell 12 percent from the same month a year earlier, to $597.9 million.
January does not tend to be a big month for video games, which sell heavily during the holidays, though it is when many people trade in the gift cards they got for Christmas.
The month’s best-selling title was Nintendo’s “New Super Mario Bros.,” followed by “Mass Effect 2″ from Electronic Arts Inc., which launched Jan. 26. Other games such as Activision Blizzard Inc.’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ and Nintendo’s “Wii Fit Plus” also did well.
January hardware sales tumbled 21 percent from a year earlier to $353.7 million. In December, hardware sales hit nearly $2.2 billion and were up from a year earlier.
NPD said Thursday the Wii kept its spot as the month’s best selling console with 465,800 units sold, followed by the handheld DS with 422,200.
Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 was in third place with 332,800 units, tailed by Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 with 276,900.
Sales of accessories climbed 2 percent to $217 million.
Peter Dille, senior vice president at Sony, said there has been a lot of pent-up demand for the PlayStation 3 and he expects supplies to be tight “for another month or two.”
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime also pointed to supply constraints for the Wii, saying the company’s “biggest challenge on the Wii side continues to be meeting demand.”
Xbox spokesman David Dennis said the company was having no supply-demand issues.
After January’s decline, analysts expect big game launches to give a boost to software sales for the remainder of the quarter. Many of these titles, such as “BioShock 2,”"Dante’s Inferno” and “God of War III” cater to hardcore gamers.
In a note to investors ahead of the NPD report, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said he thinks “the hardcore gamer will carry 2010 to solid growth” when it comes to game software.
NPD’s report came the day after Activision reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
This clip gives a glancer:
Market researcher NPD Group said Thursday U.S. video game retail sales dropped 13 percent in January, to $1.17 billion.
Here’s a breakdown by category:
Hardware: $353.7 million, down 21 percent
Software: $597.9 million, down 12 percent
Accessories: $217 million, up 2 percent
So only accessories made a gain, and a very sparse one at that. Will the summertime show signs of improvement? That remains to be seen.
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Modern Warfare 2: Typical Game Flow Chart
Submitted by videogame2play.com
6 views February 11th, 2010 at 5:56 pm -
Gamespy recently published this spot on example of a typical online game of Modern Warfare 2 using a flow chart.
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Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, part three
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Now comes the third part of this old dandy, in another eleven parts:
There don’t seem to be any crates that need to be shot to open in this episode, but there are at least 3 new enemies featured: a tall green alien, a liquid-based monster, and even a zombie that looks like Dr. Goldfire himself! There’s also a tall brown alien on the last level that I assume might turn up in the next episode. Which, of course, I’ll try to add a topic on when I can. For now, this should do quite nicely.
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EA takes another dive
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Electronic Arts is suffering from more weak sales:
NEW YORK (AP) - A disappointing outlook from Electronic Arts Inc. sent shares of the video game publisher sharply lower Monday, a sign that significant cost-cuts and layoffs have not ended the company’s slump.
The company, whose games include the popular “Madden” series and “Mass Effect 2,” said Monday it narrowed its net loss in the last quarter even as game sales declined. It blamed the revenue falloff on having fewer titles than it did in the 2008 holiday period. EA also cited weak sales in Europe, which accounts for about a third of its revenue.
The results for the October-December period were not a surprise, because EA had warned in January it would miss forecasts, leading analysts to lower their estimates.
The company lost $82 million, 20 cents per share. In the same period a year earlier it lost $641 million, $2 per share.
Revenue fell 25 percent to $1.24 billion.
Accounting for deferred revenue in games with online components, EA earned 33 cents per share, down from 56 cents per share a year earlier. Analysts were expecting 31 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.
But the company gave a forecast below Wall Street’s expectations for the current quarter, even though it is launching several big-name titles during the period. One is the science-fiction epic “Mass Effect 2.” Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown said in an interview the game has sold 2 million copies so far. EA ran its first-ever Super Bowl ad Sunday to promote the upcoming “Dante’s Inferno.”
For the fiscal fourth quarter ending March 31, EA is forecasting a profit of 2 cents to 6 cents per share on an adjusted basis, on revenue of $800 million to $850 million. This is below average analyst estimates of a profit of 13 cents per share on sales of $851 million.
CEO John Riccitiello said in a conference call with analysts EA decided to be “a little bit more conservative” than others that have given guidance for the year. With a strong lineup of games, he added, “there is reason to be optimistic. We have just chosen not to.”
Shares of EA, which is based in Redwood City, Calif., fell $1.48, or 8.5 percent, to $16 in extended trading after the earnings report.
EA said in November it was cutting its work force by 17 percent, or 1,500 people, as it tries to align its business with transformations in the industry. Game development costs are skyrocketing, forcing publishers to sell blockbuster amounts of games to justify the expenses. In turn, EA is creating fewer games - cutting out projects it is less certain can become big hits.
“They are certainly not passing through all of the cost savings,” Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said in a telephone interview.
Third-quarter operating costs declined 33 percent to $696 million.
The October-December quarter capped a rough year not just for EA but for the entire video game industry. Once dubbed “recession resistant,” the latest sales for video games suggest otherwise. Americans spent $19.7 billion on video game software and systems last year, according to the NPD Group, a 8 percent decline from a record-setting 2008. Shoppers were picky. They came out in droves to buy Activision’s latest “Call of Duty” and many of Nintendo’s titles. EA, meanwhile had no games among the top 10 best-selling console titles in 2009, according to NPD, though “The Sims 3″ was the year’s No. 1 PC game.
Besides lackluster sales and a decline in consumer spending, EA is also dealing with the changing ways people consume - and pay for - games.
Instead of spending $60 on a shiny new disc, many people are playing free or cheap games online, on their mobile devices and on Facebook. They are spending a few dollars here and there to buy virtual add-ons for the games, or they are signing up for subscription-based online games.
EA has been aggressive about such new revenue streams, and last year bought Playfish Inc., a maker of online social games, for $275 million. While digital content still is a small part of EA’s business, the company’s ability to master online gaming could determine the shape the company is in when game discs go the way of CDs. Adjusted digital revenue grew 30 percent during the third quarter, hitting $152 million.
I’m sure they’ll get over it, but for now, it’s not gonna be without difficulty.
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Private army battle
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
USA Today writes about a new game called MAG - Massive Action Game - where you’re a soldier in what’s described as a war set in a future era 15 years from now where governments hire private armies to protect their country’s interests.
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Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, part two
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Okey dokey, here comes the second part of this overlooked first-person production, in another eleven parts, with the second secret level coming penultimately here, since, logically speaking, it does need to be worked through prior to what’s really the last level.
I ought to note that it’s difficult to tell the difference between the good scientists and the bad ones, unless you tap them for info, wherein which case the bad ones will certainly make themselves known!
It’s also more difficult to get hold of some treasure items and weapons here, since they come in crates that need to be opened with weapons like the grenade launcher. Some of the secret storage rooms are also harder to access, and there’s even more enemy guards hiding in them too. The clashes with Dr. Goldfire are also more intense. This gets even more crafty as it goes along.
And rest assured, I’ll try to add the third episode as soon as I can.
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Sonic 4 Episode 1 arriving
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Sega announces that a fourth game for Sonic the Hedgehog is on the way. What’s interesting is that it’s advertised as the first episode in what I assume is going to be a special series connected together.
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Thunder Heroes taping
Submitted by Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits
Actually, it’s a Japanese version of Gaia Crusaders, slightly different from the version more commonly seen in the US and Europe, and here’s a recording of it in 4 parts:
This has some kind of explosive devices available that I don’t think were available in the version for the US/Europe, and other weapons seem to appear with more frequency too. The bosses/stages are also differently arranged, save for the last.
This is pretty good too, and as great for playing as the regular version. And, it makes for another great item that I can post more than one topic about.
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