So I attended the VGXPO in Philly on Saturday, and while the show floor was a little sparse (and looked emptier because of the size of the venue) the most noteworthy action happened in one of the convention centers conference rooms. After a screening of the documentary “Moral Kombat” from Spencer Halpin there was a live debate on the issue of video game violence between Jack Thompson and Lorne Lanning (creator if the Oddworld series).

Sadly there was no recording allowed (no photos either, but I did sneak one on my cell phone), and the wi-fi was non existent. Kinda lame since I was trying to live blog it all. Luckily I was sitting with Susan Ardent from Game|Life and Chris Grant from Joystiq who not only had one of those Verizon cards but fingers of steel to live blog over 90 minutes worth of talking. No small feat. So in lieu of me writing from memory about the event, I’m going to refer you to his love blog on the event.

Read on for my impressions of the event… Continue Reading »

Here’s a phrase I never thought I’d utter, “Star Jones did a good job on television here.” Nevertheless, it’s true. (for the most part). Here we have a 13 minute discussion about violence in video games and the (attempted) legislation against it.

For the most part it’s on the level. But they do have a bit from a Columbine survivor who’s sister was killed in the attack, and while completely tragic and sad, doesn’t make him an expert in a debate about the legality of these bills that keep getting shot down.

The game industry has a good stance here, and it shows with their 9-0 record against these bill that people like Leland Yee seem to have such a hard-on about. Well worth a watch.

As we mentioned in BitCast 17, Silicon Knights filed suit against Epic Games all like “Man, this piece don’t be workin’, man. You’s done gave us some busted ass shit, holmes.” Now Epic’s like “Nah-ah, it’s too legit bitch. You need to quitcherbitchin.” and filing a motion to dismiss the suit outright.

[Shacknews]

Manhunt 2 just garnered the “kiss of death” rating of Adults-Only (AO), instead of the expected M for Mature. What’s this mean? Most retailers won’t carry the game (EB, Gamestop, Best Buy, Target, WalMart to name a few) which pretty much renders it non-existent in the retail world. Naturally this leaves it no chance of commercial success.

It’s the video game verison of the NC-17 movie rating, and in some people’s eyes…. censorship.

Rockstar has a few options, such as protesting the ruling to an appeals board or changing the content to get the rating down, but one has to wonder what in the hell this game has that the 1st Manhunt didn’t. Is it reall a matter of the Wii’s controls? Should it be regulated any differently because of the control mechanism of the game?

A company spokesman had the following to say:

“This is completely unexpected to the whole team. We love the horror genre. We thought we could do something interesting and entertaining with it in the video game medium. When we had this first Manhunt game, there wasn’t this reaction. We thought (Manhunt 2) was consistent with a mature rating.”

[Kotaku]

Not since 1997’s Carmageddon has a game been banned from being sold in the UK. Well now we can add another to the list, Rockstar’s Manhunt 2. It would seem the game has been deemed to violent and depraved to be saved by cuts or changes and would really be a blight on society if released. To me, I prefer to let grown adults make a decision for themselves about whether or not they’d like to purchase and play the game, but I guess that’s me.

Kotaku thinks this momentum will carry over to bans in Germany and Austrailia as well, and I have to say I agree. Germany has already skittish of violent games (Dead Rising) and this decision in the UK could have ripple effects everywhere. I’m quite sure there’s some people here in the States that are downright eurphoric this morning with all the new ammunition they just got in their anti-games crusade.

The British Board of Film Classification’s director David Cooke released a statement explaining the decision, and while I wholly disagree with the banning of anything, I give them credit for playing the game throughly and even reading the script before making a decision. Quite a difference than the people so eager who just want to see games be made illegal. Full statement after the jump. Continue Reading »

The Attorney General in Utah not only enjoys playing video games with his kids, but actually points out how easy it is to read the ratings right on the box when choosing what games to play with your kids. Can it be? a real-life politician actually takes a sane stance on computer and video games? No wonder Jack Thompson hates this guy.

Here’s the PSA the AG created last year to show parents how to choose the right games to buy and play with your kids.

Hot off the presses, straight from Gamepolitics.com:

“A Federal District Court Judge has dealt a fatal blow to Louisiana’s video game law.

The statute, drafted by controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson, was ruled unconstitutional earlier today by Judge James Brady.

In August Judge Brady issued a temporary injunction which blocked the law from taking effect. That ban is now permanent.

More to follow…”

Head on over to Gamepolitics.com for more as the story develops.