Region Free Wii?

Well not really, but what did you expect...

Posted: 18:57 on 26 Jul 2006

By: Chris Leyton

There used to be a time when one or two grey-imports in your collection was the true mark of being a gamer. Waiting months for a game to finally appear, or in many cases never actually making it, paying over the odds and circumventing territory lockouts on the machines themselves, was often the only option available to the more serious gamer - not that TVG condones interfering with hardware, you're always left with one odd bit!

But in this day and age of an increasingly smaller worldwide market and shorter release periods (with the exception of Square-Enix), grey imports aren't necessarily as much of a necessity to gamers as they used to be.

With the PSP and Nintendo DS continuing the handheld tradition of being region-free, Sony's confirmation that the PlayStation3 would follow suit came as a small surprise, given their notoriously hard stance on grey-importers.

IGN recently had the chance to put the question of territory-lockout to Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan, who managed to dodge providing a definite answer with the skilful poise that we've come to expect from Nintendo executives.

"Clearly, the success of Nintendo DS has offered a lot of lessons about what works in the marketplace - and we certainly intend to keep our fans satisfied. For the Wii system, we are finalizing all the relevant details and will be making announcements in the coming months."

The situation is muddled even further as Kaplan appears to backtrack on the slight suggestion and discusses the worldwide nature of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection instead, "We will share a lot of ways people can play globally, regionally, without boundaries. You're right that the region-free approach has proved to be a successful and attractive feature for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection on Nintendo DS - we have even blown the doors off our own anticipated numbers! Cost, ease-of-use and player privacy are the three things that were a focus for us with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Those priorities also will apply to the Wii system."

So there you have it, with a Press Release deliberately issued to whip up the fanboys and the continued stance against releasing too many details, surely it can't be too long before Nintendo decides to come out with what the fans want to know.

SIM Animal

Animal-friendly Sims game will expand on PCs, stand alone on consoles, handhelds; content will differ between platforms.

By Tim Surette, GameSpot

Posted Jul 27, 2006 9:03 am PT

One of the things Sims fans have been clamoring for in the Sims 2 are pets--and they're not talking about a decorative fish bowl or a rodent spinning in a hamster wheel. The Sims community has been asking for dogs and cats to be included in the life simulator, and Electronic Arts has finally obliged.

The Sims 2 Pets has been officially announced, after being teased at this year's E3. A promotional clip of the game was shown at EA's booth, but information was spotty at best. There was speculation that the game would be an expansion for The Sims 2 PC edition, a stand-alone console game, a booster pack, or even its own spin-off.

Those questions were answered today. The game is coming to the PC as an expansion pack, and in a somewhat surprising move, the game will also be going for a walk on consoles, namely the PlayStation 2, GameCube, PlayStation Portable, DS, and Game Boy Advance. Currently, there are no plans to release an Xbox edition. All versions will ship on October 17, except for the PSP version, which gets let out in November.

Every edition will include "dogs, cats, caged animals, and more," as well as a create-a-pet feature that gives gamers an opportunity to design their own puppy or kitty. Various color schemes, body types, and markings will be available, as well as personalities.

Owners will also be responsible for training their four-legged friends, or risk having cats claw up furniture and dogs make a mess of the house. As players progress through the game, they'll receive codes for unlockable items, such as accessories, pet markings, or fur types, which can be shared with other Sims 2 Pets players.

Deal with the Devil

By Antone Gonsalves

TechWeb Fri Jul 21, 5:49 PM ET

The Federal Trade Commission has officially approved a deal with "Grand Theft Auto" maker Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., which got into trouble with regulators for hiding sexually explicit material in the popular video game.

The commission unanimously approved the consent order and agreement in which the New York-based company promised not to misrepresent video game ratings or content descriptors on packaging, Take-Two said Friday. In addition, the company had agreed to implement a system to ensure that all game content is disclosed to ratings organizations.

"We are extremely pleased that the FTC has concluded its very thorough investigation, and that the matter has been resolved," Paul Eibeler, president and chief executive of Take-Two, said in a statement. "We look forward to putting this behind us and focusing on what we do best - creating video games."

The FTC launched an investigation of the company last year after secret character nudity and graphic sex scenes were uncovered in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." The scenes could be unlocked by installing a small modification, or "mod," file.

The FTC later said Take-Two violated the law when it accepted an "M" rating for the game, which means it was acceptable for anyone 17 years old or older. If the company had disclosed the existence of the sex scenes, the game would have earned an "AO," or Adults Only, rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

Betting the farm.

By Pete Harrison Fri Jul 21, 4:31 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - PartyGaming plans to expand aggressively outside the United States, but sees no risk of being dragged into the U.S. indictment of a rival for racketeering, the world's biggest online gaming firm said.

As PartyGaming reported a 49 percent boost to second quarter revenues on Friday, Chief Executive Mitch Garber said he was not concerned by the U.S. indictment of rival BETonSPORTS on charges of racketeering and tax evasion.

The results beat some analysts forecasts and PartyGaming's volatile stock rose 5 percent before falling back to its opening price of 87-1/4 pence by 0758 GMT.

BETonSPORTS Chief Executive David Carruthers faces his first court hearing later on Friday after being arrested on allegations of taking illegal sports bets in the United States.

Over $1 billion of combined market value has been wiped off the sector this week as investors speculated the arrest could be part of a wider crackdown on Web gaming. Garber said this could provide an opportunity to make cheap acquisitions.

What I've Been Playing:

Chromehounds

Brain Age

Burnout: Revenge

Anime News:

Con Corner:

AFO!!

My Panels:

RPG Panel
5pm Friday
Studio A, Salon F


Chogokin a beeyotch
4:30pm Saturday
Studio B, Salon G