Sony have just unveiled a new custom PSP for the Japanese market. And it's a silver PSP-3000, covered in all kinds of stuff that will make sense only to fans of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep.

http://kotaku.com/5406320/new-kingdo...japan/gallery/ ...

Starting this month, Nintendo's Wii gets its own section and pitch people at Sports Authority stores nationwide, part of a movement to help make the country more fit, the fitness chain's president told Kotaku this morning.

http://kotaku.com/5406568/sports-aut...al-to-sell-wii ...

BBC presenter Nicky Campbell has hosted a debate on UK television programme The Big Questions about violent videogames and their affect on society following the historic launch of Modern Warfare 2.

Aired at 10am on Sunday, 15th November, the debating show invited experts and public alike to offer their opinions on the topic.

Miranda Suit, member of Mediamarch (a voluntary group aiming to "reduce the harmful effects of the media on our children, families and society") opened the discussion: "The role-playing element of these games makes them very, very potent... We've had a lot of anecdotal evidence from parents and teachers saying how they make children more violent."

She said "academic research" showed games - grouped under "violent media" - are making people "more violent". But, asked Campbell, this is adult entertainment, and surely we can decide what is wrong or right?

"Well no...It depends on the individual you're dealing with. If you've got a stable background you might be able to deal with it [but] then you get desensitised and you become one of the bystanders - and we know we've got a problem with bystanders," she said.

"If you're a vulnerable young person, and this is the scary bit, if you're already involved in anti-social behaviour - and you're probably the one getting hold of a game like this at the age of thirteen - it will reinforce your violent behaviour and you'll go and commit crime on the streets where you live."

Agony aunt Jenni Trent Hughes was disgusted after watching the controversial airport scene in Modern Warfare 2: "I started to cry," she recalled, "I felt sick to my stomach and I was frightened." She said she sat there with her 15 year-old son and he had to shield his face from the screen. "You and I both know - you more than I - that there's more children buying it," she added, perhaps explaining why she had shown her underage child the scene.

Alex Goldberg, Jewish Chaplain at the University of Surrey agreed: "We fudge this issue about children time and time again throughout this debate. Let's face it, it's children playing this game. "

Fazan Mohammed from the British Muslim Forum offered a shocking historical argument: "A lot of people make the excuse that this is just entertainment, but Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of the Nazi Germany said, 'My entertainment did more for the German people in terms of creating this psyche for war and hostility towards other people than the speeches of Adolf Hitler'. Using this idea that this is just entertainment is no justification whatsoever." Campbell quipped that holy wars had claimed far more lives than computer games.

The microphone then passed to Giselle Pakeerah, whose son Stefan Pakeerah was brutally murdered in 2004 by a youth "obsessed" with violent videogames (Manhunt).

"The fact is that the greatest consumers of these games are between 11 and 17 and they play the games for hours on end," said Pakeerah. "And we know there's a lot of evidence - theoretical and empirical - that repetitive exposure to violent media alters a child's perception of life and how they deal with conflict resolution. That's the crux of the matter."

Professor Haim Bresheeth from the University of East London said the same videogame companies that produce titles like Modern Warfare 2 are producing "military games to train soldiers to kill" in the US and Israel. "They think it's effective - I think they're right," he stated.

Simon Jay, a community and youth worker, said the children he looks after were "hyper" after playing a violent game or watching a violent film, and would "beat" and "tackle" each other on the street. Apparently some youths went boxing for real on the streets after playing a "violent" boxing game and got hurt.

"What worries me though about this whole debate is that the fact remains: we have a system whereby these videogames should be properly censored - they've got an 18 certificate," said Right Reverend Stephen Lowe, the former bishop of Hulme, who plays World of Warcraft. He said MW2 has material that "shouldn't have got past the censor" and should have been "cut out"; regulators should have "dealt with that properly" and that is "unacceptable".

Videogames were defended by a few, and even Nicky Campbell on occasions. Some chap in a nice blue shirt said videogames are being used as a "scapegoat" in the same way people targeted films in the 1980s.

"Well, millions of people play computer games," said another, older, gentleman. "Say someone does kill someone, you have to judge that against the millions of people's enjoyment. If you want to ban cars you'll save hundreds of lives. Or ban football - you're certainly not going to have football hooligans if you get rid of football, and I've seen plenty of people get very stressed out even watching the game."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/bb...-addresses-mw2 ...

Microsoft has launched a host of new community features for the Xbox 360 platform, with Facebook, Twitter, last.fm and Zune functionality all now added to the consoles services.

The new functionality, previewed at a London event last night - at which Taio Cruz and Paloma Faith both performed - will enable users to post to Facebook and Twitter feeds, as well as listen to music via Last.fm and watch streaming 1080p HD content with Zune.

"It's the community that drives us forward, and it's the community that allows us to pioneer new ways of connecting people through the entertainment they love," said Neil Thompson, senior director of Microsoft's Entertainment Division in UK & Ireland. "Tonight we're celebrating the transformation of the TV as tomorrow everyone will be able to enjoy some truly exciting interactive entertainment experiences which continues to deliver on our vision of connected entertainment for everyone."

And Ryan Regan, CFO and head of digital, for Last.fm added: "The Last.fm and Xbox Live partnership firmly catapults the Xbox 360 into the centre of the social music revolution. With the ability to discover music and explore endless personalised stations, music fans can turn their game console into the ultimate living room entertainment centrepiece. This is another example of Last.fm working with an innovative partner to further connect listeners with their favourite music and artists."

A full list of functionality follows:

Facebook: Update your status to share the movie, game or entertainment you're enjoying, connect with friends and view their Facebook stream, status updates and photos on the big screen - as well as compare your Xbox Live and Facebook friends lists.
Twitter: Discover, post, and reply to Tweets on your Xbox 360. You can view friend profiles, trends and conversations, or search Twitter content.
Last.fm: Set up personalised radio stations with Last.fm on Xbox 360. Skip, 'ban' or 'love' songs to create your perfect mix, with built-in "Gamer Stations" featuring music selected specifically for the gaming community (available in the US and UK).
Zune: A premium high fidelity video experience with instant-on HD in 1080p and 5.1 channel surround sound for Xbox Live, with no waiting for downloads or buffering. The experience can also be shared with up to seven friends through voice chat and Avatar integration on the TV screen.
The Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm services will require users to subscribe to Xbox Live Gold membership, while all subscribers will have access to a four minute chase scene clip from forthcoming movie Avatar, directed by James Cameron.

The clip will be available from launch until November 21, and Jon Landau - producer on the film - commented: "With the fantastic high definition experience of Zune on Xbox Live we are so excited to be able to give Xbox 360 users a sneak preview of one of the exhilarating chase scenes in the movie before anyone else. The clip will only be exclusive on Xbox LIVE for five days, so don’t miss it."

The latest functionality upgrade follows shortly after the integration of Sky TV and film content onto the Microsoft platform - a launch which didn't run quite according to plan, but has now settled down.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...g-tools-on-360 ...

Activision has confirmed the removal of the controversial airport scene from the Russian version of Modern Warfare 2, and said the move was its own decision.

"Other countries have formal ratings boards that we regularly work with. However, Russia does not have a formal ratings entity. As a result, we chose to block the scene after seeking the advice of local counsel," the company told Eurogamer in a statement. Modern Warfare 2 is currently only available on PC in the country.

Activision was moving to clear up reports that the game had been banned or censored by the Russian government. There are claims that the console versions of the game have been recalled from retailers so the airport scene can be removed.

"Reports that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been banned in Russia are erroneous. Activision only released a PC version of the game in Russia which went on sale on Tuesday, 10th November," the company said.

The scene in question, titled 'No Russian', depicts Russian ultranationalist terrorists massacring civilians in an airport with the player's help.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...vel-for-russia ...

Users will be able to update Trophy and PlayStation Store activity instantly in Facebook, in the forthcoming PlayStation 3 firmware update, according to new details revealed by Sony.

A video on the official PlayStation Blog demonstrates how existing Facebook and PlayStation Network accounts can be linked together, with the option of updating activity automatically.

Both features will be available from day one, with a third option to share game specific event data due to be incorporated in future products. This option will allow developers to publish additional game information to a Facebook news feed when certain criteria have been achieved in a game.

Other new features in the firmware update include minor changes to how photos and Friends List details are displayed on the XMB interface.

Although it has always been possible to use Facebook on the PS3 via the built-in web browser news of the specific functionality in the new firmware update was first leaked earlier in the month.

Similar integration is also planned for the Xbox 360, while the Nintendo DSi has also begun to offer photo integration for the popular social network.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...tailed-for-ps3 ...

A total of 14 per cent of US households now use online gaming subscription services, according to new data compiled by research firm The NPD Group.

The latest update to the "Entertainment Trends in America" consumer tracking study found that entertainment-related content subscriptions have been unaffected by the recession, with monthly per-capita spending rising by seven per cent to USD 115.

The latest figures for August 2009 show that 81 per cent of US households had a television service subscription, 76 per cent an Internet subscription and 17 per cent an online music or satellite radio subscription.

With the rise of smartphones nine per cent of US consumers also now have a mobile data-plan subscription. Home video subscriptions such as Netflix were also up, by two per cent to 14 per cent.

At the same time the number of people subscribing to newspapers fell by two per cent, to 29 per cent. Magazine subscriptions also fell by two per cent, to 41 per cent.

"Consumers are clearly looking to the value offered by entertainment subscriptions and like what they get for their money; plus, new technologies and products have helped bolster data plans and other newer kinds of subscription-based services," said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD.

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

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said that Nintendo won't introduce a Wii HD for some time, because a new console iteration would have to do more than simply offer HD.

"The way we at Nintendo do things is, you know, when we will move to a new generation, it's because there are some fundamental things the [current] console cannot do," he told Kotaku.

"What that says is that simply the addition of HD capability will not be the next step for us. There will be more to it. There will be additional capability. There will be additional elements, and, given that, it is far into the future."

Earlier this month, Shigeru Miyomoto acknowledged that customer's tastes are changing and the company cannot swim against the tide indefinitely.

"The customers' tastes will become more and more refined. Even today, many customers who have seen HD once say they cannot go back to SD," he said.

Fils-Aime added that he is "disappointed" that triple A games such as Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin's Creed might not be released on Wii.

"I think for those games, typically decisions are being made two years prior," he said. "And so the decisions two years ago were that those types of games would not be effective on the platform.

"But we've shown that that's just not the case. High quality, effectively marketed against our installed base will sell, period, end of story."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...nto-the-future ...

Nintendo maestro hints at sequel to 2008 release as he admits original title underperformed
Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has suggested that the company could produce a sequel to Wii Music in the future.
The game was met with a disappointing response when released in 2008, selling little more than 2.65 million over the last year. While Nintendo has admitted Wii Music failed to perform, Miyamoto believes future iterations could be more successful.
In an interview with Official Nintendo Magazine, he said: “I think it sold lower than our expectations but on the other hand it was a really unique game.
“Even today, we are receiving several different offers from people in the field of music education, so as far as Wii Music is concerned, I think it still has great potential. And in the future there might be some developments.”
Miyamoto gave few details on what this could entail, but hinted Nintendo is thinking about the possibility of making software based on the original Wii Music – but with some considerable improvements.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have any news we can talk about at the moment,” he said. “But like Wii Fit Plus, it’s not really a sequel to the original Wii Fit, but we have added some features to improve the overall experience. It’s a kind of an enhanced version of the original Wii Fit.”

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...n-to-Wii-Music ...