Is Australia finally ready to implement a video game rating system that allows for classification of adult games? Draft guidelines have been released by the federal government which allow 'virtually no restrictions on the treatment of themes,' and violence in games 'except where it offends against the standards of morality, decency and propriety.' Last month, South Australian Attorney General John Rau said that the state was finally ready to adopt the long-proposed R18+ adult rating for games, but only if the lower MA15+ rating is eliminated and all games in the category pushed into the new, higher rating. However, this new draft has both the R18+ and MA15+ ratings available together."

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/0...ame-Guidelines ...

From information taken from a facebook post from HTC's page, it looks like future [HTC] Android devices will have an unlocked bootloader. An email sent by HTC's co-founder also confirms that the Evo 3D will be unlocked. This is great news for the Android modding community.

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/...nes-Bootloader ...

Ex-Capcom developer Keiji Inafune has accused Japanese developers of dismissing digital markets and looking down on digital content created for consoles, smartphones and social platforms.

A long-time critic of the Japanese development attitude, Inafune also said that young development talent has the wrong attitude to creativity and lacks the stamina to create hit games.

"I think that one of the issues is that creators, the top-notch high-profile game creators, don't seem to want to do digital download titles because they're an afterthought, like it's below them," he told 1UP.

The younger creators of today, they just don't have that power, they don't have that strength, that creativity.
Keiji Inafune, Comcept
"The real 'rockstar' Japanese game creators are only going to do more expensive packaged products and a lot of times, even if the idea internally is to do a complimentary digital download game that goes with a packaged product, it's kind of a hassle to try and spend some of your team and resources on a digital download when you want to keep them focused all on the main project at hand.

"So it ends up being delayed or it becomes an afterthought; it's a self-fulfilling prophecy almost. Additionally, that's going to mean that consumers aren't really into those games because the high-profile people aren't usually making them. On top of that, because that's one of the issues, a lot of times digital games will not sell in Japan and therefore the sales teams in Japan tend to not put a lot of energy and time to pushing them and marketing them the right way."

He was critical of a younger generation of game development talent, suggesting a lack creativity and a deluded attitude that Japanese development is the best in the world.

"The younger creators of today, they just don't have that power, they don't have that strength, that creativity, they're all kind of born into 'Japan is number one in the gaming industry' so all they've got now is a lot of pride without the hungry go-getter attitude of trying to become the top.

"And so what that has done now is you've got a bunch of people that feel entitled, that feel they're already number one even though they're not."

Inafune also shed light on the two new studios he created since leaving Capcom. Comcept is a team acting as think tank for projects that can span different media, while Intercept will act more as a traditional publisher and developer.

"By forming two very separate entities as companies and saying OK, the one side that's going to do the creative concepts this is going to be Comcept, and they're going to focus on all the creativity and they're not going to be limited to games, they're going to be able to do comic books or movies or games, of course, but it's all going to be about ideas.

"And then separate from that, Intercept, they're going to be the game company, they make games, they're going to be the production side, they're doing what we've always done as game creators, they're actually making the product but they're more of a process, they're more building out the games based on the ideas the Comcept side has developed."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...panies-inafune ...

Sony has announced that the PlayStation Network will finally come back online in Asia from Saturday, May 28, as the PlayStation Store prepares to return in Europe.

The return of the PlayStation Network in Japan and other Asian territories has faced legal problems not evident elsewhere in the world, with the Japanese government demanding specific reassurances from Sony before allowing it to return.

According to a report from Andriasang these issues have now been resolved and the PlayStation Network and Qricoity services will return in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malasia, Indonesia and Thailand.

As in the West users will be forced to change their passwords when they log in, but they will also be able to download free games as part of a Welcome Back program for both PlayStation 3 and PSP.

Sony will also give all PlayStation Network owners 30 days of free PlayStation Plus access, as well as 30 days free Platinum membership of the Japanese Weekly Toro Station news app.

Users will also receive free personal space for PlayStation Home and free video rentals, although all of the Welcome Back gifts are dependent on the return of the PlayStation Store - which is not yet available again in any country.

Sony has previously indicated that all online services, including the store, will be back online by May 31. Although this has not been confirmed, PlayStation Network maintenance is currently scheduled in Europe between 19:00 GMT on May 31 and 01:00 GMT on June 1.

During these times network services will still be available if already logged in, but account registration and management will be taken offline.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...turday-in-asia ...

60-second ad during tomorrow’s final will bring Activision’s largest ever reveal campaign to a close
A trailer for Modern Warfare 3 will be shown during tomorrow’s Champions League final on Sky Sports and ITV1.
The ad will mark the culmination of what Activision described to MCV as “the largest ever reveal campaign undertaken so far for the Call of Duty franchise in the UK�.
The campaign kicked off on Saturday, May 14th with four teaser trailers, which have generated over 7.8m views on YouTube alone so far.
Earlier this week, the full reveal trailer was released worldwide, and aired during the US broadcast of the NBA Western Conference finals. Activision has also launched its UK online campaign with an MSN homepage takeover and ran the first TV teaser spots on Sky Sports News.
“We’re really excited to start showing our fans what they can expect from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,� Activision’s European marketing director for COD Daniel Green told MCV.
“With over 7m YouTube views of our reveal trailer since it was released on Tuesday, it seems our fans are just as excited.�
Other major upcoming games due to be advertised during the Champions League final include Microsoft’s Gears of War 3 and Sony’s Infamous 2.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/44523/MW3-...ns-League-spot ...

Tech downgrade rumoured for the upcoming handheld console
The successor to the PSP will have its memory capacity halved as part of Sony’s bid to cut retail prices, a new report claims.
An unconfirmed rumour in circulation suggests that the NGP will come packaged with 256MB of RAM, as opposed to the 512MB flaunted by Sony when the device was first unveiled.
Sony has been guilty in the past of overpowering their consoles at the expense of the customer.
A spokesperson for the firm declined to comment when contacted by Develop.
A French news website is suggesting the sizable reduction in RAM will impact on the handheld’s retail price – allowing it to better compete with Nintendo’s 3DS.
The source of the rumours, website 01net, has in the past month staked its long-term reputation on a string of explosive rumours. However, many of these rumours have withstood the test of time without challenge.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...-report-claims ...

New release from Tantric (and missed in our downtime) of the GBA emulator for Wii And Gamecube:


Visual Boy Advance GX is a modified port of VBA-M.
With it you can play GBA/Game Boy Color/Game Boy games on your Wii/GameCube.

-=[ Features ]=-

* Wiimote, Nunchuk, Classic, and Gamecube controller support
* Rotation sensors, Solar sensors, and Rumble support
* Optional special Wii controls built-in for some games
* SRAM and State saving
* IPS/UPS patch support
* Custom controller configurations
* SD, USB, DVD, SMB, Zip, and 7z support
* Compatibility based on VBA-M r927
* MEM2 ROM Storage for fast access
* Auto frame skip for those core heavy games
* Turbo speed, video zooming, widescreen, and unfiltered video options

×—–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­ –­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”â €“­â€”–­â€”–­â€” ­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­ —-­â€”–­-–•¬
|0O×øo· UPDATE HISTORY ·oø×O0|
`¨•¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨'

[2.2.5 - May 15, 2011]

* Added Turkish translation

Download Via Comments

http://code.google.com/p/vba-wii/ ...

New release from Tantric (and missed in our downtime) of the Nes emulator for Wii And Gamecube:

FCE Ultra GX is a modified port of the FCE Ultra Nintendo Entertainment
system for x86 (Windows/Linux) PCs. With it you can play NES games on your
Wii/GameCube.

-=[ Features ]=-

* Wiimote, Nunchuk, Classic, and Gamecube controller support
* iNES, FDS, VS, UNIF, and NSF ROM support
* 1-4 Player Support
* Zapper support
* Auto Load/Save Game States and RAM
* Custom controller configurations
* SD, USB, DVD, SMB, Zip, and 7z support
* Custom controller configurations
* 16:9 widescreen support
* Original/filtered/unfiltered video modes
* Turbo Mode - up to 2x the normal speed
* Cheat support (.CHT files and Game Genie)
* Famicom 3D System support
* IPS/UPS automatic patching support
* NES Compatibility Based on FCEUX 2.1.4
* Open Source!

×—–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­ –­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”â €“­â€”–­â€”–­â€” ­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­ —-­â€”–­-–•¬
|0O×øo· UPDATE HISTORY ·oø×O0|
`¨•¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨'

[3.2.6 - May 15, 2011]

* Fixed audio skipping (thanks thiagoalvesdealmeida!)
* Added Turkish translation

Download Via Comments

http://code.google.com/p/fceugc/ ...

New release from Tantric (and missed in our downtime) of the Snes emulator for Wii And Gamecube:

Snes9x GX is a Super Nintendoâ„¢ / Super Famicom emulator for the Nintendo Wii.
Snes9x GX is a port of Snes9x (http://www.snes9x.com).

Snes9x GX is a "homebrew application" which means you will need a way to run
unsigned code on your Nintendo Wii. The best website for getting started with
Wii homebrew is WiiBrew (www.wiibrew.org).

•˜———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - ————————•
| FEATURES |
•˜———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - ————————•

* Based on Snes9x 1.52
* Wiimote, Nunchuk, Classic, and Gamecube controller support
* SNES Superscope, Mouse, Justifier support
* Cheat support
* Auto Load/Save Game Snapshots and SRAM
* Custom controller configurations
* SD, USB, DVD, SMB, Zip, and 7z support
* Autodetect PAL/NTSC, 16:9 widescreen support
* Original/filtered/unfiltered video modes
* Turbo Mode - up to 2x the normal speed
* Zoom option to zoom in/out
* Open Source!

•˜———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - ————————•
| UPDATE HISTORY |
•˜———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - ————————•

[4.2.8 - May 15, 2011]

* Ported a few upstream game fixes for: Mutant Chronicles - Doom Troopers,
Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday, Big Sky Trooper, and Mechwarrior 3050 / Battle
Tech 3050
* Added Turkish translation

Download Via Comments

http://code.google.com/p/snes9x-gx/ ...