A new study into violent behaviour and the possible influence of videogames has concluded that effects are likely to be limited only to those whose "personalities are predisposed to be highly neurotic, less agreeable and less conscientious."

The research, conducted by Dr Patrick Markey of Villanova University and Dr Charlotte Markey of Rutgers Univeristy, ties in with prior findings involving children exposed to violent TV programmes and cartoons with similar results.

"Individuals are not 'blank slates,'" explained Patrick Markey. "One's general disposition moderates the effect of violent media. General policy recommendations based on the notion that violent videogames (VVGs) are simply 'bad' and individuals who play violent videogames will inevitably become aggressive appear to be unwarranted.

"Instead it is crucial to consider the dispositional characteristics of the person playing the videogame when predicting the type of effect the violent videogame might have on his or her hostility."

Specifically the research indicated a "perfect storm" of personality traits that could lead to vulnerability - a high level of neuroticism, low agreeableness and low conscientiousness.

Violent and non-violent games were then played by 118 teenagers, and hostility levels assessed, with those individuals displaying the "perfect storm" traits most adversely affected - while participants "who did not possess these personality characteristics were either unaffected or only slightly negatively affected".

"Although the incidences of violence, particularly school violence, linked to videogames are alarming, what should perhaps surprise us more is that there are not more VVG-driven violent episodes," the report concludes. "Given the number of youths who regularly engage in VVG play and the general concern regarding this media, it would seem likely that resulting violent episodes would be a regular occurrence. And yet, daily reports of mass violence are not reported.

"It appears that the vast majority of individuals exposed to VVGs do not become violent in the 'real world.' Thus, the questions for researchers, policymakers, and laypersons become: 'Why do some individuals appear to be affected by VVGs while others are not?' and 'Who is most likely to be affected by VVGs?'"

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-personalities ...

Capcom CEO Haruhiro Tsujimoto believes Nintendo is paying close attention to Apple's success in mobile gaming, anticipating the upcoming Nintendo 3DS handheld for more than its 3D capabilities.

"What we're more looking forward to is the offering of a new business model," he said in an interview with Nikkei. "Nintendo has been in the hardware business for a long time, and I believe they must be looking closely at Apple's recent success."

"We believe third parties are paying attention to Nintendo's E3 3DS announcement because of this point as well."

This may be a hint that Capcom hopes Nintendo is readying a service akin to Apple's App Store for their new handheld - perhaps allowing a greater range of third-party, independent and micro-payment content than does the existing DSiWare store. There has also been speculation that the 3D-enabled handheld will offer 3G capabilities.

Nintendo has previously confirmed that it will reveal the 3DS at this year's E3. GamesIndustry.biz will be documenting Nintendo's June 15 press conference on the day.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...osely-at-apple ...

Take-Two has just confirmed that it will release a version of GTA: Chinatown Wars specifically for iPad "later this month".

The game originally released on DS, taking the GTA series back to its top-down roots with gameplay similar to the PlayStation 1 originals.

The game was later released on the iTunes Apps Store for iPhone and iPod Touch. Take-Two divulged no details on the iPad version, but with the bigger screen and a considerably beefier CPU in Apple's tablet device, you can expect touched up visuals at the very least.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

This year's E3 will be the litmus test for Microsoft's Project Natal and Sony's Move motion controllers, as the industry gathers to judge the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 peripherals.

Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter said that the new technologies have the potential to boost hardware sales for both companies, as well as new software sales for third-party publishers, although he doubted pricing details would be set in stone.

"After a difficult year in the videogame industry, next week’s E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo has the potential to turn the tide of investor concerns and start a wave of positive momentum for the videogame industry for the rest of 2010," said Pachter in a preview of the event.

"The much-hyped Natal and Move motion controllers have the potential to drive meaningful incremental hardware and software sales upon their releases, and the entire videogame industry will be anxious to see whether the new devices are game changers or gimmicks."

Microsoft's Project Natal has the higher profile after a full-year of hype and media coverage, although the company has only shown a limited demo of the system - mainly consisting of the mini-game Ricochet - highlighting the family-friendly audience the company hopes to capture.

As well as the usual press conference, Microsoft is hosting an event dedicated to Natal, and last week Microsoft's Molly O'Donnell confirmed the system would get a rebranding in time for release. No price has been given for the device.

"At E3 Natal will have a real name, a real consumer-facing name, real games, real experiences," she said. "E3 is like our big Natal coming out party, we'll be unveiling the future of fun."

Although shown at an early stage at E3 last year, Sony's Move was only named back in February but the company did say that in the US it would retail for under $100.

Pachter said that Wedbush does not expect the pricing of the devices to be finalised at E3, and Microsoft is more concerned about attracting new customers than profits from sales of Natal.

"We do not expect pricing to be resolved at E3, and think that Microsoft continues to weigh the lifetime value of a new Natal customer against the profits that can be made by the initial hardware sale."

While Sony and Microsoft go head-to-head with motion controllers, Nintendo has said that it will reveal more solid details of its new 3D handheld, the 3DS. It's also expected that a price cut on DS hardware in the US will be announced, following the Japan and UK cuts last week.

Pachter added that he didn't expect share prices to be impacted by E3, with the upside of Natal and Move negated by uncertainty as to which publishers could be successful on the systems.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...rs-or-gimmicks ...

Rockstar Games may be celebrating the success of Red Dead Redemption but its next sequel, Max Payne 3, will not be released before October 31st, parent Take-Two has confirmed tonight.
The third game in Rockstar's series will now debut as part of the publisher's 2011 financial year - it was originally expected to have arrived sometime this year.
Take-Two didn't confirm timings for the game, so it could still launch in November or December this year.
That said, it's not all delays at Rockstar - Take-Two this evening also confirmed that L.A. Noire, the '40s thriller published by Rockstar and developed by Australian team Team Bondi, will be out by October.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39349/Max-Payne-3-slips ...

Sony Computer Entertainment has registered a very intriguing trademark for 'PlayView' in the US.

The first function mentioned in the file - pushed through in the US Patents and Trademarks Office - reads:

'Portable electronic device for receiving and reading text and images and sound through wireless Internet access and for displaying electronically published materials, namely, books, journals, newspapers, magazines, multimedia presentations.'

So far, so e-Reader, right? Interesting, yes. But not exactly a threat to the very-possibly-beautiful 3DS. But as we look closer, we also read that the TM covers:

* 'Computer game software recorded on optical discs';

*'Computer software for transmitting, sharing, receiving, downloading, displaying and transferring content, text, visual works, audio works, audiovisual works, literary works, data, files, documents and electronic works via video game machines and Hand-held games with liquid crystal displays';

* 'Video game machines with television for personal use'.

Intriguingly, it also encompasses, 'Retail store services in the field of electronic games, videos, electronic publications and music'.

So we could be looking at some kind of wide-reaching addition to PSN - or perhaps a new service that lets PlayStation owners download and read books.

Or maybe - just maybe - could this be the long-rumoured Sony Ericsson/PSP crossover?

Also covered by the TM are: 'Information providing devices, namely, computer terminals with encrypting software for transmission of messages via the internet web site and e-mail communication' and 'telephone apparatus'.

Whatever the TM - filed on June 3 - covers, picking out Playview's formation is speculation at this stage. Such a myriad of descriptors doesn't help with nailing down a function.

But maybe that's the point. Maybe - just maybe - 'PSP2' does everything. It's an e-reader, email provider, word processor, mobile phone and games machine in one.

Too good to be true? Consider that Sony Computer Entertainment of America trademarked this particular (as yet unused) tagline back on May 17, again in the US... 'It changes everything.'

So, The Sony Playview, then. What do you reckon?

E3, we need you now more than ever.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Valve's much-pondered surprise next week will be the unveiling of Source Engine 2, according to a report.

Citing an anonymous source, VG247 reports that Valve may lift the lid on a new version of the Source Engine by showing Half-Life 3 running on it, in keeping with the company's tradition of debuting a new engine with a new Half-Life.

The report also claims the surprise won't be revealed before the Microsoft or Sony press conferences on June 14 and 15. So maybe during?

Valve was due to hold a Portal 2 event on June 14, but "cancelled" it with a comedy email which teased that it would instead have a special "surprise" in store for that day.

Speculation erupted and Valve boss Gabe Newell later confirmed that, despite widespread rumours and fake documents everywhere, the surprise is NOT Half-Life 2: Episode 3.

We've asked Valve for comment.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

The FPS market is a crowded one, but one factor that makes Black Ops stand out from the crowd is its rarely-visited setting. With the battlefields of World War II and more contemporary conflicts, the newest Call of Duty puts players on the frontlines of the Cold War.
“The Cold War is something that hasn’t really been done in the Call of Duty series – or games in general for that matter,” Treyarch community manager Josh Olin told MCV.
“A lot of people have this misconception about the Cold War being just that: a cold war. They believe there was no conflict. But while we were researching this, we began to learn about these deniable operations that black ops teams would go on all around the world.
“We discovered these stories of key missions that struck us as fascinating gameplay possibilities, and Call of Duty: Black Ops will really capture that really awesome, intense black operations spirit of the Cold War.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39343/Why-...n-the-Cold-War ...

The record-breaking moment happened on June 7th at 11:02 AM when the Geodelic location app was downloaded on an Android handset.
It makes GetJar the world’s second largest app store – behind the Apple App Store – based on downloads.
The firm launched on March 23rd 2004 as a developer resource for testing and appraising Java apps.
But in the last 18 months it has evolved into a more commercially-focused store, offering app makers a portal through which to distribute demo and full products.
What a success it's been. GetJar now provides more than 65,000 mobile apps to consumers in more than 200 countries.

Ilja Laurs, CEO and founder, GetJar, proclaimed the success of his firm's open approach. He said: “We’re delighted to have reached this milestone in mobile app history.
"We’ve supported over 60,000 apps from developers across all major platforms, and our open philosophy has been integral to our continued growth and the development within the industry. We’re looking forward to the next billion downloads.”
The most downloaded app of all time on GetJar is Facebook’s mobile site shortcut. It has been downloaded more than 61 million times since launch late last year.
The most popular app is mobile messenger application, eBuddy, who recently surpassed a landmark 50 million downloads.
Other notable successes include the ‘Bible’ app, which was downloaded more than 398,000 times in its first month alone, and Islamic app ‘Azan’ with 1.5 million downloads.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/37421...lion-downloads ...