A major Norwegian retailer has announced it is to remove 51 games from its shelves following the tragic killings in Oslo and Utøya last week.

As reported by VG247, the titles affected by Coop Norway's decision include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and World of Warcraft – both of which gunman Anders Behring Breivik claimed to have played regularly.

The move was inspired by "consideration for those affected" by the murders, Coop Norway director Geir Inge Stokke told newspaper Rogalands Avis.

"The decision to remove the games was made around the time we realised the scope of the attack," he said.

"Others are better suited than us to point to the negative effects of games like these. At the moment it's [appropriate] for us to take them down. I wouldn't be surprised if others do the same.

"We have to think very carefully about when to bring these goods back. The economy involved is of no importance."

Breivik killed over 70 people in a bomb attack and shooting spree last week, and injured many more. His 1500 page manifesto apparently stated that he viewed Modern Warfare 2 as a "training-simulation".

We've contacted Blizzard and Activision and will update if they choose to comment.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-oslo-killings ...

Suggesting it might not be quite the industry ogre it's often painted to be, Activision has handed out $250,000 in prizes to indie developers this week, in its inaugural Independent Games Competition.

The publisher has announced the first round of winners in its new game development contest, with Peter Angstadt's RTS effort Dstroyd walking away with $175,000 in first place and Engient's DIY vehicular combat curio Rigonauts: Broadside taking second, netting $75,000.

The winning developers will use the loot to further develop their ideas.

Details of the second phase of the contest, when another $250k will be up for grabs, will be released shortly, though aspiring European game-makers should note it's only open to US developers.

"The first round of the competition was very impressive, and we have thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to show our commitment to supporting the creative spirit and innovation of independent developers," said Activision exec Dave Stohl.

"We look forward to continuing to reward independent developers for their remarkable efforts, and inspiring them to turn their dreams into reality."

The rules of the competition state that the winners retain the IP rights to their games but Activision gets first dibs on electing whether to publish the finished product.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...500k-to-indies ...

People have been arguing about violence in video games for as long as video games have had violence for people to argue about, and few titles have come under as much sustained fire as Id Software's Doom. It would stand to reason then, that John Carmack, a man who was instrumental in the game's development and the FPS revolution that followed, would be chief among those most affected by the debate's wide-reaching ramifications. Not so much, it turns out.

"I never took seriously the violence in video games debate. It was basically talking points for people to get on CNN and espouse their stuff on there," he said, speaking with IndustryGamers. "In the end it didn't matter, it didn't make any impact on things. I never felt threatened by it and it turned out not to matter." Carmack also believes that violent games help calm agressive players and are, in-fact, good for us: "If you go to QuakeCon and you walk by and you see the people there [and compare that to] a random cross section of a college campus, you're probably going to find a more peaceful crowd of people at the gaming convention."

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/30/th...-says-carmack/ ...

Every year, we're never short of media outlets and commentators keen to link violent tragedies and gaming.

Just this week, they've had more cause than usual - with Oslo mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik himself calling Modern Warfare 2 a "training simulator" for his distressing actions.

But, according clinical psychologist Christopher Ferguson - an expert on video game violence and mass killings at Texas A&M International University - those who seek to make this connection aren't just wrong. They might well be racist.

Struggling to see exactly how Mr. Ferguson got there? Allow him to explain: "I know it's a little controversial to say but there's a certain type of racism in place with these killings... When shootings happen in an inner city in minority-populated schools, video games are never brought up.


"But when these things happen in white majority schools and in the suburbs, people start to freak out and video games are inevitably blamed. I think that there's a certain element of racism or ignorance here."

In a nutshell, then: when non-caucasians shoot people, games are rarely blamed. But when caucasians kill people, games are sought as an excuse. He's right: it's certainly... controversial.

"People really want to know what kind of boogeyman can we hang this on and video games are still the top choice when it comes to any type of tragedy," he added, speaking to Forbes.

Okay, that last one we can definitely get behind.

Ferguson rightly noted that that the video game connection to the Oslo killings - in which Breivik killed 76 people, the majority teenagers - hadn't inflamed as much media outcry as previous massacres have.

One factor could be because the tragedy occurred far from U.S. soil and no Americans were involved, he said - but another could be that games are now more ingrained (and accepted) in our culture than ever before.

"There are groups out there who are going to blame video games on everything," said Ferguson. "They're like ambulance chasers, really. I think it's irresponsible and thoughtless to try to make political gain off of someone else's tragedy, but they're going to do it. That's what they do. But even those groups have been much quieter with the Oslo tragedy."

He added: "Scientifically, the idea that video game violence, movie, or television violence contributes to mass homicides is pretty much a debunked idea that has no real basis to it. I think certainly the Supreme Court case helped, especially since they were so clear in pointing out that current research was not able to support that line of reasoning....

"Linking the playing of violent video games to a mass homicide when the perpetrator is a young male is like blaming the killing on the fact that he was wearing sneakers. The base rate of that behavior is so common that it has no predictive value whatsoever."

All astute observations that sit nicely with CVG's very own WRONG campaign.

But then there's Ferguson's headline suggestion. Foolish, yes, but racist?

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...-psychologist/ ...

Half of all UK software revenues this year will come from a top-tier of select games - releases that might just offset a six month decline in the sale boxed games.

MCV – with expert input from our Retail Advisory Board – has put together a list of what those 20 games are likely to be. Scroll down for the list, or click through to the second page of this feature to see in-depth analysis of each title.

A focus on the biggest titles follows a trend from last year. The UK Top 20 selling games of 2010 accounted for 37 per cent of all the software revenue generated last year (according to Chart-Track), and that was even more concentrated during the Q4 Christmas rush.

“The Top 20 All Formats amounted to 45 per cent of Q4 2010’s unit sales and 55 per cent of its revenue,” said Chart-Track’s business group director Dorian Bloch.

“Perhaps even more incredible is the fact that the Top Five for Q4 2010 accounted for 32 per cent of Q4 2010’s value. That’s one third of the entertainment software market in Q4 2010 based on Black Ops, FIFA 11, Just Dance 2, Assassin’s Creed and Medal of Honor.”

Retail buyers are now focusing their efforts on key titles to make sure that the big bets pay off.

“To some degree it makes it easier,” said HMV CEO Simon Fox. “The big games are getting bigger. The challenge for retail is how do we get our fair share of these enormous franchises?”

Asda games chief Andrew Thompson added: “We think the Top 20 will be worth 50 per cent of the market in 2011. So it is really about getting the messaging in-store and online absolutely spot-on.”

THE 20 GAMES THAT WILL SAVE CHRISTMAS



Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Batman: Arkham City
Battlefield 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
F1 2011
FIFA 12
Gears of War 3
Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary
Harry Potter: Years 5-7
Just Dance 3
L.A. Noire
Mario & Sonic at the London Olympic Games
Need for Speed: The Run
Saints Row: The Third
Super Mario 3D Land
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Zumba Fitness

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/the-2...ristmas/082499 ...

The Metropolitan Police has arrested an 18-year-old man believed to be the spokesperson of hacking groups LulzSec and Anonymous.

The man – known as 'Topiary' – was tracked by the police's e-crime unit and has been transported from an address in the Shetland Islands to London. He was arrested under section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act and section 1 of the Criminal Law Act.

A home in Lincolnshire has also been searched and a 17-year-old questioned. The news comes after the arrest of 19-year-old Ryan Cleary and a 16-year-old who has been bailed and will return for questioning in August.

LulzSec claims it has hacked a number of websites over the past few months including games companies such as Nintendo and Bethesda and other organisations including the NHS and even the FBI.

"Today's operation is linked to [an e-crime] investigation into network intrusions and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against a number of international business and intelligence agencies by what is believed to be the same hacking group," a police statement read.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/lulzs...rrested/082530 ...

Hi all its been too long but the hacking of the site a few months ago made us update security features and to the latest version of vbulletin.

One of the downsides was a massive loss of positions in Google which is one reason for the bringing back of all the DCEmu Network sites whilst keeping the new DCEmu CMS system..

But also since then no one has been able to register and even get their lost passwords back.

finally last night Martin traced the bug that caused this and that side of the site is now working properly again, thank god.

Ill be sending an August newsletter out detailing all the recent news and fixes on DCEmu in the next few days.

This weekend im hoping to bring back the remaining sites inc the coders sites and open new ones covering PSvita, 3DS, WiiU.

Thanks for now. ...

It may be the case that new hardware is in the works at both Sony and Microsoft, but EA CEO John Riccitiello thinks that the console cycle as we know it is well and truly over.

“Most of us recognize that the industry has radically changed and the pace of change has accelerated dramatically,” he told investors, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha. “Gone forever is the four-to-five year console cadence that gave developers ample time to invest and retool for the next big wave.

“Consider that just 18 months ago, there was no iPad, Google was just experimenting with Android and most big games were limited to a single revenue opportunity at launch. Consider that each of the major consoles now has a controller that encourages users to get off the couch and get into the action.

“On smartphones and tablets like the iPhone and iPad, the top paid apps are all games. Recognize that the fastest-growing revenue streams for console, PC, smartphones and tablets are all digital, and that EA is partnering with its retail and platform partners to help jointly grow these digital revenue streams.

“While the game industry has fundamentally changed, games are reaching a far larger audience base than ever before.”

And of course, Riccitiello argues that since his return to the company he has been focused on repositioning EA to take charge in this new market.

“We're building the strength of our most important IP. And for EA, this means about a dozen very substantial IPs,” he added. “Each of these will be transformed into year-round businesses with major packaged goods launches, social launches, mobile launches, downloadable content and micro-transactions.

“Also, we are working to establish EA as a platform, while maintaining a strong partnership with key retailers, both retail and digital retailers. GameStop, with 11.5 million registered users of their PowerUp Rewards program, is proving to be one of our best partners in digital.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ricci...forever/082482 ...

Ubisoft’s free-to-play aspirations were unveiled to the UK press at a summer showcase last week.

With F2P titles Ghost Recon Online, Imagine Town and The Settlers Online, Ubisoft is adapting its own brands with the ultimate goal of ‘upgrading’ users to richer online games.

“Using the free-to-play model, we want to move people onto higher definition games, games that are going to be much more immersive,” Ubisoft UK’s head of digital marketing Alan Dykes told MCV.

“We have been developing the capability in-house, based on franchises that we know have worked well.” Dykes said Ubisoft’s digital and F2P games represent the publisher’s third strand, next to its core and casual titles. He said: “It’s vital for us to look at how the market is expanding.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ubiso...y-hopes/082491 ...