The European Union has been accused to trying to slip key components of the ACTA agreement through covert channels.
According to the Independent, a number of controversial provisions contained within the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement were also buried in a trade agreement between the EU and Canada called CETA.
Apparently, if the CETA treaty were ratified then lawmakers would not be able to fully object to ACTA.
“The European Parliament has spoken very loudly. To put back the same provisions in a much larger trade agreement will make it more difficult to reject. If CETA is successful, then one would think that the European Commission would come back and say ‘well, you just passed that, so you cannot object to ACTA’,” said Professor Michael Geist, the law scholar who discovered the hidden provisions.
Negotiated in secret and only made public after being leaked, ACTA was roundly rejected by the European Parliament after becoming the subject of widespread protests in Europe.
“The crowbarring of ACTA type provisions into CETA shows the will to ignore the democratic process,” said the head of the UK Pirate Party, Loz Kaye. “There are legitimate concerns about the enforcement, damages and border control obligations in CETA. The EU and international bodies must start to learn the lessons of the ACTA debacle, and truly engage with citizens.”
http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...slation/028667
...

Legendary games designer Will Wright has claimed that the dramatic shift from full-price to freemium has left the established console sector is a state of disarray.
“I think all the console guys are running scared,” Wright toldGames Industry. “Not so much because of the hardware, but because of the business models, free-to-play and that kind of thing, have shifted underneath them.”
While Wright doesn’t necessarily subscribe to the idea that we’re facing the end of the console, but certainly the way in which games are being sold has radically transformed.
“I think publishers are much more risk-averse to spending twenty or thirty million dollars on a title,” he added. “The only people who could really play that game were giant publishers, and they'd be rolling the dice. They'd do five titles a year, and all they had to do was get one hit and it paid off all the failures.
“It is going to be more of a Zynga-type environment where people start small and try to grow it up. It encourages experimentation. I think before the only thing people were willing to bet on were sequels; that was really the only predictable genre.
“Now the fact that you can do a game for an extremely low cost, put it out there and see if it gets any traction is going to encourage more diversity.
Will Wright is most famous for creating Sim City, The Sims and Spore.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/the-c...-scared/099279 ...

PEGI will assume sole control from the end of the month


July 30^th is the day that the full-blooded new PEGI age ratings system for video games will go live in the UK.

Games released in the UK are currently rated by both PEGI and, if they contain mature content, the BBFC. PEGI will assume sole control from the end of the month.
Furthermore, PEGI ratings will also become legally enforceable for the first time, meaning retailers will be forced to observe the age restrictions when selling to minors, or else face prosecution.
“We welcome the news from government that July 30th is now looking the likely date for the implementation of PEGI as the single age rating system for video games in the UK,” UKIE CEO Jo Twist stated.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...-for-July-30th
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RIM recently dished out its latest helping of bad news; 5,000 job cuts, and a delayed BlackBerry 10 OS – its secret weapon to battle against Android and iOS.
However, RIM marketing chief Frank Boulben has stepped up to tellReuters that the firm's postponed lifeboat is for the best.
He said: "The short delay is not detrimental if the quality is there when we launch early next year. We will have much more attention and focus and ability to leverage our carriers."
The claim echoes CEO Thorsten Heins' sentiment that there's nothing wrong with the company, simply that it's going through a transition.
However, said 'transition' has seen sales fall by more than two million units quarter-on-quarter, while revenue dropped by 43 per cent.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...d-thing/018577 ...

Mobile games are expected to be the largest market segment at $11.4 billion.
A new market report by Transparency Market Research says that the global mobile content market will almost treble in size in the next five years.
The global mobile content market was worth $6.5 billion in 2011, but its stunning growth means the sector is forecast to be worth $18.6 billion in 2017.
In the overall global market, the US mobile content market was the largest regional market with a revenue share of 30.3 per cent in 2011. Moreover, faster adoption of mobile content in the region will significantly increase the market share of the US to 41 per cent in 2017.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...by-2017/018581 ...

You dont see that many auctions that truly stun you but over on ebay an auction has finished where it ended for an amazing $1.2 Million , heres what you would have got:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BIGGEST-CO..._165718wt_1163

Here is an idea of what you'd get:
1) 100% Complete Famicom Cartridge Fullset (around 1050 games): All games complete in box with instructions, many of them being brand new, and many extra stuff, like not for sale games, contest games (Gradius Archimendes, Mike Tyson's Punch Out Gold cart to name a few), rare hardware,etc..


2) 100% Complete Famicom Disk system fullset (around 200 games): All games are complete in box with instructions, 50% of them being factory sealed! Including the very rare "write-only" releases, such as Clu Clu Land, all with original instructions, this one (Clu Clu Land) being worth up to $1500, as well as contest prize games (All 3 Gold Disks),etc..


3) 100% Complete Virtual Boy Fullset (19 games,including Virtual Bowling, SD Gundam Dimension War, Virtual Lab, Space Invaders..): all complete in box with instructions or brand new. Virtual Bowling being sold for $2000 alone!


4) 100% Complete Super Famicom Fullset (around 1500 titles): All games are complete in box with instructions, all games having plastic baggies, warning papers, all games being protected by special plastic protection boxes to remain in perfect condition, and around 500 of them being BRAND NEW (including Randering Ranger,etc..i'll update the list later to inform you which ones are brand new)!! This fullset includes ALL rare "Nintendo Power only" releases (Columns,Dokyusei 2,Wizardry I-II-III, Super Punch Out,etc..), all SM Teacher games, all Sufami Turbo releases, all contest/not for sale games (Far East of Eden Zero V-Jump, Chrono Trigger V Jump, Slam Dunk Shueisha Limited, Yoshi no Cookie Oven Version, Magical Drop 2 Special Version, Kunio-Kun Dodgeball Gold Cart, Super Formation Soccer Xaqua to name some)...


5) 100% Complete Nintendo 64 Fullset: All releases (around 200 games), complete in box with instructions!


6) 100% Complete Nintendo DD64 fullset: All releases (10 games), complete in box with instructions, mostly brand new!


7) 100% Complete BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED Gamecube Fullset: ALL releases, around 320 games, all factory sealed!


8) 100% Complete Sega Master System European Fullset, plus Australian&US&Brazilian exclusives (around 300 games): all complete in box with instructions, including the most rare ones then (Les Schtroumpfs autour du monde, Mah-jong,etc..)


9) 100% complete Sega Mark 3 & Sega Master System Japanese Fullset: all releases (around 80 games), complete in box with instructions, including rare not for sale/contest games such as Great Ice Hockey!


10) 100% Complete Sega Game Gear Fullset: All releases (around 200 games), complete in box with instructions, including "budget"releases and rare hardware (GG White system,etc)


11) 100% Complete Sega Megadrive Fullset: All releases (around 450 games), all complete in box with instructions, including rare not for sale games: Go-Net, Smisey Home, Mega Anser, Nagoya Home Banking and more!


12) 100% Complete Sega 32 X Fullset: all releases (19 games), complete in box with instructions!


13) 100% Complete Sega Mega CD Fullset: all releases (around 115 games), most of them BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED (for around 85 of them, the 30 other ones are mint complete in box with instructions)!


14) 100% Complete Sega Saturn Fullset: All releases (around 1150 games), all complete with case and instructions,and ALL even with spine cards! And some nice extra not for sale games ( Heim Waltz,etc, comes to mind)


15) 100% Complete Sega Dreamcast BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED Fullset: Around 550 games, all of them factory sealed, including all Dorikore reprints, rare Sega Direct exclusive prints, etc..


16) 100% Complete PC Engine Hucard BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED Fullset: around 300 games, ALL Factory Sealed, and including all rare extra not for sale games: Youkai Dochuuki Gold Hucard, all 7 Caravan Hucards, Darius Alpha,etc..


17) 100% Complete PC Engine Supergrafx BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED Fullset: 6 games,if you include Darius Plus, all Factory Sealed.

18) 100% Complete PC Engine CD BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED Fullset: Around 120 games, ALL FACTORY SEALED!


19) 100% Complete PC ENGINE SUPER CD BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED Fullset: Around 300 games, ALL FACTORY SEALED, including RARE Not for sale games such as Akiyamajin (worth $3000 alone), Super Real Mahjong P 2-3 Special Custom Version (worth $2500 either), etc..


20) 100% Complete PC ENGINE ARCADE CD BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED Fullset: 12 Games, ALL FACTORY SEALED, including rare ones such as Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (original genuine 1st print of course)!


21) 100% Complete PC-FX BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED Fullset: All releases are factory sealed (even Kishindouji Zenki, Zeroigar,etc), including all mooks, all "programming" stuff such as rare Nnyuu mook release, etc..


22) 100% Complete Pioneer Laseractive Fullset: All Mega-LD releases + LD-Rom² exclusives!
...

He can do all this stuff, he can be that free - you couldn't do that with the corporate PR machine at Microsoft'

Parody twitter account Peter Molydeux is one of the reasons industry luminary Peter Molyneux left Microsoft, the former Lionhead boss has claimed.
Speaking at Rezzed, as reported by Eurogamer, Molyneux said that whilst the parody account of him was able to express numerous game ideas, however ridiculous, he was too restricted to express his own creativity at Microsoft.

He blamed the corporate PR Machine at the electronics giant as one of the reasons he couldn’t explore such ideas.
"He's another reason why I left Microsoft," said Molyneux.
"I have to tell you, he is. He was out there, and I was watching and laughing at his tweets probably harder than anyone. This guy, he can do all this stuff, he can be that free, he can explore these ideas like throwing babies into pits - you couldn't do that with the corporate PR machine at Microsoft.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...left-Microsoft
...

Not all of the numbers are bad around RIM headquarters. The company's celebrating the big three billion -- that's the number of app downloads it's seen since the launch of App World. According to RIM, that number amounts to 2.5 million downloads a day -- certainly nothing to sneeze at. Naturally, Research in Motion is using the opportunity to do some "myth busting," regarding the perceived lack of selection for BlackBerry handsets and the PlayBook tablet. At present, there are 90,000 apps "up for sale" through the mobile app market.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/08/r...ants-to-set-t/ ...

Argos on there Ebay shop are selling Refurbished Amazon Kindles for as little as £69, those of you wanting a bargain should head on down now, heres more details:



The ergonomically designed Kindle eReader holds up to 1400 books and has 240 hours battery life - making it great for holidays and travelling. With thousands of publications to download, a 6 inch anti-glare screen and features such as a built-in dictionary, the Kindle provides the perfect platform for reading your favourite books, magazines and newspapers.

Kindle uses E Ink Pearl - the latest generation of E Ink technology available - to deliver clear, crisp text you can read without strain.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3307593505...m=330759350523 ...