• Sony go “open platform” with their PS2 in that there is now no need to get content approval. They are also going for a global approvals system and allowing developers to deal directly with them. All good stuff that should have been done years ago and which they have presumably been forced into by their dire showing in the current console war.
• Hellgate:London fails (though new owners might try again) whilst Codemasters pull the plug on RF Online. Two example how even after you get up and running with an MMO it can still go pear shaped. And the numbers involved are much bigger than with non MMOs. This is a risky space to work in, but the upside can be massive.
• Teenage video game pirates graduate to hi tech crime such as phishing and credit card fraud. No surprise here then. Didn’t the militant feminists once have a theory that if you locked every male up until he was 25 it would get rid of most crime? However I have nothing but admiration for the teen who took down Scientology.org, that was a job well done.
• The UK’s first official national video game archive has been set up and needs your help to preserve the history of gaming. A very worthwhile concept and one that many reading this will be able to help with.
• ELSPA play round with how to display age ratings in an attempt to have the awfulness that is BBFC imposed upon them. I really do hope that ELSPA win this one. The game industry does not want or need BBFC.
• UK anti piracy legal action catching innocents. This is not good any way you look at it. The publishers need to assert their ownership of their IP and to reduce the impact of stealing, especially now the Xbox 360 piracy genie is out and running amok. However it is terrible to persecute innocent people. Let’s hope they get this quickly sorted so they are only zapping the thieves.
• Sony game division revenue up 10% year on year. But it still lost $405 million in Q3. When Microsoft and Nintendo are making profits and expanding their revenue even faster. This is a dire situation that Sony have got themselves into after having dominated the previous two home console generations and with gaming booming like never before. Historically many dominant platform owners have fallen from grace: Atari, Sinclair, Commodore, Amstrad and Sega spring immediately to mind so it is obviously not easy staying at the top.
• The Beatles have licensed some of their tracks to the Rock Band game. This is massive for MTV and it is a massive indicator of where gaming now stands culturally. Even two years ago nobody would have believed this news, just remember how long the Beatles spurned Apple and ITunes. These guys don’t need the money, they are more concerned with protecting their heritage. So this is a proud day for gaming.