Activision v. EA Settled
Thursday, May 17th, 2012A settlement agreement has been be filled by both Activision and Electronic Arts, a little under two weeks before their case was to go to court. The move comes one day after an appeal for a 30-day postponement of the trial by Activision lawyer Beth Wilkinson was denied. The agreement removes EA from the list [...]
No Comments‘DOTA’ Trademark Dispute Resolved
Monday, May 14th, 2012The fight for the name DOTA seems to have come to a close. Blizzard Entertainment released a statement late last week concerning their ongoing battle with Valve Software over the trademark, both studios having games in development attached to the lucrative namesake. According to Blizzard, Valve will continue to develop DOTA 2, and Blizzard’s own [...]
No CommentsHouse Passes CISPA, Despite Veto Threat and Protest
Monday, April 30th, 2012Despite a veto threat from the office of the President, the United States House of Representatives passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Privacy Act (or CISPA) by a vote of 248-168 this past Thursday. 206 Republicans lead the vote, with 42 Democrats joining in approval. The bill seeks to allow federal agencies that protect classified [...]
No CommentsCalifornia GameStops Mandated to Include DLC Warnings
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012California GameStops will now be required to include warning labels on used copies of games featuring paid Day-1 DLC and/or Online Passes. A class action lawsuit brought against the retail chain by law firm Baron and Budd claimed GameStop mislead customers with their discounted merchandise, a move which enabled them to profit in the vein [...]
1 Comment‘Skyrim’ Getting Updated with Kinect Support, Zenimax Trademarks “Fus Roh Dah”
Friday, April 13th, 2012Later this month, Dragon Shouts will get a lot more literal. Bethesda announced earlier today that Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be updated sometime this month – for free – with Kinect voice support, recognizing over 200 unique voice commands. Not limited to the fantasy RPG’s famed vocal chord attacks, Dovahkins will be able to [...]
No CommentsPublishers Ban Sex Offenders from Services
Thursday, April 12th, 2012According to a recent report by Gamasutra, several major publishers including Microsoft, Sony, Activision-Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Apple, Warner Bros., and Disney, have teamed up and banned over 3,500 known sex offenders from their services. More details are included after the jump.
No CommentsNintendo DSi Camera Evidence Used in Capture of Sex Offender
Saturday, March 31st, 2012John Fisher, 46 of Suffolk, “admitted two offences of assault by penetration” towards an unnamed victim after being presented with photographic evidence via the girl’s Nintendo DSi, reported the Daily Mail. The victim, 11, testified to having being abused by Fisher multiple times since age 9, having only recently “had the presence of mind” to [...]
No CommentsU.S. Bill Wants Health Warning Labels on Violent Video Games
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012So soon after Rep. Fourkiller’s (unsuccessful) call for a video game surtax in Oklahoma, video games once again find themselves in the legislative spotlight, this time in the U.S. House of Representatives. House Resolution 4204 (or the Violence in Video Game Labeling Act), a joint venture between Reps. Frank Wolf (R-Virginia) and Joe Baca (D-California), [...]
1 Comment‘Mass Effect 3′ Ending Plaintiff Appeals to FTC, BBB
Wednesday, March 21st, 2012The debate over the finale to the Mass Effect trilogy has taken a turn for the federal. Bioware forum user El_Spiko recently posted in the company’s Social Network community that the “terrible” ending to Mass Effect 3 lead him to post complaints at both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Better Business Bureau (BBB) against [...]
1 CommentBethesda v. Mojang Settled
Wednesday, March 14th, 2012The battle of the “Scrolls” has come to a close. A settlement was announced earlier in the week that has all media rights for the use of the word “Scrolls” going to Zenimax Media (whose subsidiary, Bethesda Softworks, produces the Elder Scrolls RPG series). Mojang will still be able to publish the digital card game [...]
No CommentsJudge Dismisses West-Zampella Fraud Charge
Monday, March 12th, 2012According to a report by GamesIndustry, a Los Angeles judge has dismissed one of the two fraud charges that were filed by Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella. More details are available after the jump.
No CommentsOklahoma Game Tax Bill Dropped
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012The House of Representatives in Oklahoma struck down Bill H2696, the proposed video game surtax we reported on earlier this month. The bill would have levied a 1% tax on all video games rated T and M purchased within the State, using the funds gained (approximated at $2 million) for programs working against childhood obesity [...]
1 CommentPIPA Loses 13 Senators, SOPA Loses ESA Support
Saturday, January 21st, 2012The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has been quickly losing favor in the House for the past week. After being “shelved” from further discussion three days ago, it was recently announced that 13 members of Congress have withdrawn their support for its sister legislation The Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). Republican Senators Marco Rubio (FL) [...]
1 CommentPIPA Vote Postponed
Saturday, January 21st, 2012Originally scheduled to take place on January 24th, the Congressional vote on the Protect Intellectual Property Act (or PIPA) has been postponed by Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV, above). While not as official as the House’s “shelving” of its sister legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act (or SOPA) three days earlier, a new deadline [...]
Comments OffCD Projekt Calls Off Hunt for ‘Witcher 2′ Pirates
Saturday, January 21st, 2012In an open letter to fans last week, CD Projekt RED announced that it would be suspending its legal battles against alleged pirates of their RPG, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The response the prospective litigation got from fans -particularly after unsubstantiated reports began to come in about legal action being taken against individuals [...]
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