The Select and Start News Report: 05.12.08
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 05.11.2008
FTC survey shows an improvement in sales of M-rated games to minors, irate PC gamers cause change of restrictions for Mass Effect and Spore, Grand Theft Auto 4 could be biggest success of all time, everyone's favorite lawyer gives Strauss Zelnick's mother a lovely gift, and more
Welcome to the Select and Start News Report. I went to see Iron Man yesterday, and it was AWESOME. I also look forward for the movie that was hinted from the teaser that played after the credits.
Big News
RATE OF KIDS BUYING M-RATED GAMES UNCHECKED GOES DOWN TO 20% [credit: GamePolitics, Gamasutra, Joystiq]
In an undercover shopper survey done by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), when it comes to kids under the certifiable age buying M-Rated games, the shoppers were able to buy the games only 20% of the time. This is a big improvement from last year when they were turned down 42% of the time, and a huge improvement when in 2000 they were only turned down 16% of the time. This also marks video games as having the best average compared to R-Rated tickets (35%), R-Rated DVDs (47%), and Unrated DVDs (51%). As for which stores did the best job, it was GameStop/EB Games by having 6% of kids buy the games. The rest of the stores were:
Wal-Mart - 18%
Best Buy - 20%
Toys R Us - 27% (They sell M-Rated games?)
Target - 29%
Kmart - 31%
Circuit City - 38%
Hollywood Video - 40%
This is absolutely fantastic news for the video game industry, considering we are now under attack because Grand Theft Auto 4 gives you points for drunk driving. Oh wait, no it doesn't. That's just more bullcrap from Dan Isett of the Parents Television Council, a group known to have EPIC FAILURES in the past. Meanwhile, congress could be passing a bill where retailers would be fined $5,000 if they sell M-Rated games to minors and don't post up a sign telling people what the ESRB ratings mean. But if you look at the stats above, if that bill were to pass (and there's a 99.999% chance it WON'T), game stores will be just fine anyway because they actually do the job that people claim they don't do.
UPDATES ON THE MASS EFFECT/SPORE RESTIRCTIONS AFFAIR [credit: Evil Avatar, GamePolitics, Joystiq]
Now here's a story that was changing throughout the entire week. Early in the week it was reported that the PC versions of Mass Effect and Spore would come with this security feature where the game would have to validate itself online every 10 days, or else the players would not be allowed to play the game at all. That would mean that gamers who would not have a constant internet connection would basically be screwed. Gamers voiced their displeasure about this feature, and now it looks as if that 10-day validation check is going to removed. BioWare community manager Jay Watamaniuk has stated that Mass Effect will now only need to be validated once online (unless you download new content) and then you don't have to use the disk to play the game. No word yet if Spore will be doing the same thing, but likely will considering both games are under the EA banner.
See, this is the kind of crap that's made me a console gamer instead of a PC gamer.
ALL THE STUFF THAT RELATES TO GRAND THEFT AUTO 4
-Take-Two Interactive is suing the Chicago Transit Authority for them taking down all the GTA4 ads. Take-Two is claiming the CTA violated their right to free speech along with contractual rights, and are looking to get the ads back up along with $300,000 for damages. The ads were to run from April to June but were taken down after being reported about by a Fox News affiliate (go figure) during a weekend of violence in Chicago. Personally, even though I don't really like Take-Two and Rockstar, I hope they win this lawsuit. [credit: GameDaily]
-Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto 4 has set a new record for an entertainment launch, generating more than $500 million in revenues in a single week and generating $310 million in one day for the game's worldwide launch. Halo 3 seen weeping in the corner. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-Not only has the game generated a lot of revenue on it's own, but it also caused a big jump for sales of the consoles in the UK. Xbox 360 sales have gone up 125%, and PS3 sales have gone up 127%. In the US, Microsoft announced that Xbox 360 sales went up 54% and is also bragging about how 60% of GTA4 players bought the game for Xbox 360. It's also now the #1 game being played on Xbox Live, beating out Call of Duty 4. [credit: GameSpot, GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-Also, this isn't exactly news, but over at GameRankings, Grand Theft Auto 4 has been taking up the #1 and #2 positions (one for each console) for a while now. Looks like Zelda: Ocarina of Time has finally been dethroned. When reached for comment, Link had this to say: "SAEYAAAAA!" Or something like that.
Tidbit News
-A television advertisement created by UK retailer PC World promoting the PS3 has been taken off the air because the ad claims that the PS3 can play all PS2 games, which it can't. Or could've. Or perhaps will. I don't know anymore. [credit: Joystiq]
-According to the annual rankings in Forbes, 80-year-old Hiroshi Yamauchi, former chairman of Nintendo, is the wealthiest person in all of Japan with $7.8 billion thanks to the value of Nintendo reaching higher numbers. [credit: GameDaily]
-Prototype, the open-world superhero game by Sierra and Radical Entertainment, has now been pushed back to 2009 due to needing more time to make sure it's actually a good game. [credit: GameDaily]
-Valve's VP of marketing Doug Lombardi says that a lot of people at Valve are interested in making a kids game for the Wii. Lego Half-Life perhaps? [credit: GameDaily]
-Midway has posted yet another net loss for Q1 2008, $34.0 million or $0.37 per share. Midway has now been losing money for nine years straight. Hopefully this company will be around long enough so we can see TNA iMPACT get released. [credit: GameDaily]
-EA announced that Fight Night Round 4 will feature none other then Mike Tyson. Yes, the same Mike Tyson who was able to kill you in Punch-Out with ONE punch. Hopefully they'll throw in Glass Joe to balance things out. [credit: GameDaily]
-Along with announcing that they've now made $1 billion in total sales through it Nickelodeon licensed games, THQ also announced that they've made $1.03 billion for the Fiscal year 2008, resulting in a $35 million loss. This sadly lead to the layoff of about 200 people. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-THQ also announced a new wrestling series, Legends of Wrestlemania. The first game in the series will be out in March 2009 and so far is only confirmed for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. [credit: GameSpot]
-LittleBigPlanet has sort of been dated! According to IGN, Sony announced at their European press event that the game will come out in the UK this October. This may likely be the date it comes out for everyone else as well. [credit: IGN]
-After being around for 10 years and 4 months, the Gran Turismo series has now exceeded 50 million shipments worldwide, with the latest entry GT5 Prolouge reaching over two million units shipped. [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
-Naughty Dog's Evan Wells said in an interview that Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was planned to have you shoot fish, but was cut out in the end because the ESRB flagged it as a potential issue, and it might have given the game an M rating rather then it's T rating. Shooting fish garners an M rating? Seriously? [credit: Destructoid]
Gaming Calendar
May 12th:
-WiiWare Service to be launched
-Launch titles include: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, Major League Eating
May 13th - Myst (DS) to be released
May 19th - Wii Fit to be released
May 20th:
-Haze (PS3) to be released
-Blast Works (Wii) to be released
May 27th:
-Mass Effect ported to the PC
-Hail to the Chimp (PS3, X360) to be released
-Death Jr.: Root of Evil to be released
Spring 2008 - Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms (PC) to be released
June 3rd - Ninja Gaiden II (X360) to be released
June 12th - Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) to be released
June 28-29 - Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational convention to be held
June 2008 - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PS3, X360) to be released
July 8th - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon (Wii) to be released
July 22nd - Final Fantasy IV DS to be released
August 1st - EA Land (PC, formerly The Sims Online) will close down
Summer 2008 - Air Traffic Chaos (DS) to be released
September 7th - Spore (PC) to be released
September 2008 - TNA iMPACT (Multi) to be released
October 2008 - LittleBigPlanet (PS3) to be released
October 3-5 - E for All 2008 to be held
October 9-13 - The Tokyo Game Show 2008 to be held
November 2008 - Gears of War 2 (X360) to be released
Fall 2008 - Resistance: Fall of Man 2 (PS3) to be released
A letter from Jack Thompson [credit: WIRED Blog Network]
As an early Mother's Day gift, Jack Thompson decided to give Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick's mother a letter talking about how Strauss is encouraging kids to kill cops, how he's become the Hitler youth because Mrs.Zelnick never beat him enough as a child, and also refers to America's favorite book. Thompson claimed he sent this to Zelnick's lawyer rather then Zelnick's actual mother but of course he's probably full of it. Here's the letter printed verbatim:
"Mrs. Zelnick
Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two Chairman's Mother
New York, New York Via e-mails to intermediaries
Re: Your Son, Strauss Zelnick
Dear Mrs. Zelnick:
Your son, as you may know (or maybe you don't know), is Chairman of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., whose most popular video games are the Grand Theft Auto murder simulator games banned in some countries but sold to children here.
Your son last week was reported to have said the following about Grand Theft Auto IV, due to be released Tuesday, April 29:
"We've already received numerous [GTA IV] reviews, and to a one, they are perfect scores. My mom couldn't write better reviews…"
Taking your son's thought, I would encourage you either to play this game or have an adroit video gamer play it for you. Some of the latter gamers are on death row, so try to find one out in the civilian population who hasn't killed someone yet.
What you will see in your son's game, if this iteration of GTA is anything like its predecessors, is incredible interactive violence aimed at police officers (whom you can shoot in the head and see the blood spray), innocent bystanders (whom you can run over with your car just for the heck of it), and of course the plentiful female prostitutes you can have sex with and then filet with a knife or stomp with your feet in order to get your money back. Experts note that the recent plethora of cop killings is caused in part by your darling son's entrepreneurial energy. There are three policemen dead in Alabama because of Grand Theft Auto. I was on 60 Minutes about it. I hope Strauss has provided you with a flat screen tv to see the grief of the bereaved families that fills the screen.
The pornography and violence that your son trafficks in is the kind of stuff that most mothers would be ashamed to see their son putting into the hands of other mothers' children, but, hey, your son Strauss has recently assured the world that he is "a Boy Scout, everybody knows that." I'd love to see the merit badges that Scout Troop handed out. Is there a Ted Bundy merit badge? If so, your loving son deserves one now. It should be red and green, for obvious reasons.
With Passover having just come and gone, it is appropriate to note the following from the Old Testament, Proverbs 22:6:
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Mrs. Zelnick, did you train up your son, Strauss, to make millions of dollars by pushing Mature-rated video games to children? Any kid can go right to little Strauss' corporate web site and buy GTA IV with no age verification. Strauss is even marketing the new Grand Theft Auto IV on World Wrestling Entertainment tv shows seen by millions of kids. If you trained up Strauss to do this, then shame on you.
But maybe the explanation for your son's corporate sociopathy is to be found in Old Testament Proverb 29:15:
"The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."
Maybe you, Mrs. Zelnick, were so taken by your handsome son that you spared the rod and spoiled the child. That would explain why he has brought you, by the way he presently acts, "to shame."
There's another mother you would do well to talk to. Mrs. Crump in Alabama had a son who was a police officer. He's now dead because a teenaged boy unwittingly trained himself to kill him on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. She has a grief she carries every day that only a mother can know.There are other such mothers in the heartland of America whose inhabitants your son simply sees as commercial targets.
Your son, this very moment, is doing everything he possibly can to sell as many copies of GTA IV to teen boys in the United States, a country in which your son claims you raised him to be "a Boy Scout." More like the Hitler Youth, I would say.
Happy Mother's day, Mrs. Zelnick, which this year is May 11, two weeks after your son unleashes porn and violence upon other mothers' boys. I'm sure you're very proud.
I still don't think GTA is a 10/10 game. However, that being said, Jack Thompson is (still) the world's biggest douche. I've been playing GTAIV for over a week. I'm not on death row. I haven't killed anybody. Where does this guy get his info?
Good to see age restricted content sales have been going down.
Posted By: Brent (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 06:12 AM
Could Jack Thompson be any more of a douche? Sending a letter to the creator's mom to make her feel bad...thats low.
Posted By: Guest#5924 (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 08:02 AM
haha! I'm 28 years old, and I have been killing and maiming people in video games for nearly 20 years. I work for a magazine publisher, and I have never bee to jail for a non violent crime, let alone killing someone. Jack Thompson is a complete douche bag.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 11:39 AM
I can see Jack Thompson's son bringing a video game to the old folks home and playing in front of his dad when he gets older just to get back at him for all the crap he has put him through
Posted By: TWilliams (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 07:21 PM
Thompson talks about GTA so much, it kind of makes me wonder if he's actually a plant that works for the developer. Seriously, think about it. Either way, Jack Thompson sure makes a lot of money just by talking and writing about GTA.
Posted By: daniel (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 12:56 PM
