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Heres a press release that will no doubt amuse some and may offend too:

Perturbed over Sony’s “Hanuman: Boy Warrior” videogame and further vexed by stiff-necked attitude of Sony officials, various Hindu groups have given worldwide boycott call against Sony PlayStation products.

Spearheaded by acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who said that Hanuman game “trivializes the highly revered deity of Hinduism”; various Hindu groups/leaders who have jointly given the boycott call include Bhavna Shinde of Forum for Hindu Awakening in USA; Vamsi Krishna of Sanatan Sanstha of Australia; Hindu Janajagruti Samiti headquartered in India; Jawahar L. Khurana, Chairperson of Hindu Alliance of India; Lila D. Sharma, President of India Heritage Panel; Dharam Loonaa, Executive Director of Universal Society of Hinduism; and Rakesh Nagpal, General Secretary of Shri Ramayan Pracharini Sabha. Besides Hindus, they have also urged other religious/spiritual people/groups of the world also not to buy Sony PlayStation products.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, in an earlier statement, said that in a video game set-up, the player controlled the destiny of Lord Hanuman while in reality the believers put the destinies of themselves in the hands of their deities. Zed further said that immature handling of the issue by Sony, which is said to be a socially responsible and ethical corporation, saddened them. He also urged Sony to create a high-level check system so that denigrations like this did not happen in the future.

According to Shinde, Hindu leaders communicated their displeasure to Sony and tried to resolve the issue through discussions, but callous attitude of Sony officials frustrated their efforts, leaving them with no other alternative except the boycott call. She said that they would re-evaluate their protest movement in the near future and look into requesting the major wholesalers and retailers of videogames, in India and wherever else this videogame was launched, not to carry it. They would also consider boycotting all Sony products during this re-evaluation.

Hindus have been demanding the withdrawal of recently launched Sony PlayStation2 video game “Hanuman: Boy Warrior” and apology from Sony for creating it by May 21, arguing that reimagining Hindu scriptures and deities for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees. Controlling and manipulating Lord Hanuman with a joystick/ button/keyboard/mouse was denigration.

Lord Hanuman is greatly revered and his worship is very popular among Hindus and there are numerous temples dedicated to him. Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents. Sony, with Howard Stringer as Chairman and headquartered in Tokyo, is one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. ...

Heres a press release that will no doubt amuse some and may offend too:

Perturbed over Sony’s “Hanuman: Boy Warrior” videogame and further vexed by stiff-necked attitude of Sony officials, various Hindu groups have given worldwide boycott call against Sony PlayStation products.

Spearheaded by acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who said that Hanuman game “trivializes the highly revered deity of Hinduism”; various Hindu groups/leaders who have jointly given the boycott call include Bhavna Shinde of Forum for Hindu Awakening in USA; Vamsi Krishna of Sanatan Sanstha of Australia; Hindu Janajagruti Samiti headquartered in India; Jawahar L. Khurana, Chairperson of Hindu Alliance of India; Lila D. Sharma, President of India Heritage Panel; Dharam Loonaa, Executive Director of Universal Society of Hinduism; and Rakesh Nagpal, General Secretary of Shri Ramayan Pracharini Sabha. Besides Hindus, they have also urged other religious/spiritual people/groups of the world also not to buy Sony PlayStation products.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, in an earlier statement, said that in a video game set-up, the player controlled the destiny of Lord Hanuman while in reality the believers put the destinies of themselves in the hands of their deities. Zed further said that immature handling of the issue by Sony, which is said to be a socially responsible and ethical corporation, saddened them. He also urged Sony to create a high-level check system so that denigrations like this did not happen in the future.

According to Shinde, Hindu leaders communicated their displeasure to Sony and tried to resolve the issue through discussions, but callous attitude of Sony officials frustrated their efforts, leaving them with no other alternative except the boycott call. She said that they would re-evaluate their protest movement in the near future and look into requesting the major wholesalers and retailers of videogames, in India and wherever else this videogame was launched, not to carry it. They would also consider boycotting all Sony products during this re-evaluation.

Hindus have been demanding the withdrawal of recently launched Sony PlayStation2 video game “Hanuman: Boy Warrior” and apology from Sony for creating it by May 21, arguing that reimagining Hindu scriptures and deities for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees. Controlling and manipulating Lord Hanuman with a joystick/ button/keyboard/mouse was denigration.

Lord Hanuman is greatly revered and his worship is very popular among Hindus and there are numerous temples dedicated to him. Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents. Sony, with Howard Stringer as Chairman and headquartered in Tokyo, is one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. ...

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced its new, original intellectual property, World of Zoo is currently in development to make its scheduled debut for Wii, Nintendo DS and Windows PC this fall. World of Zoo takes players beyond the fences and into their own zoo, allowing them to care for and build relationships with numerous animals through hands-on interactive gameplay. Packed full of customization features, players will be able to experience their own personalized virtual zoo creating an experience unlike any other animal-based simulation game. In addition, the game will be showcased at the upcoming E3 Expo 2009 being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

"We are excited to introduce this game to animal lovers and zoo fans of all ages," said Randy Shoemaker, vice president, global brand management at THQ. "This game expands the real-world zoo experience, giving players an all-access pass to interact with the world's most amazing animals up close and personal."

World of Zoo is a family-friendly game that will open the gates for gamers to freely roam their zoo in ways they have only imagined. With more than 90 different animals spanning 11 families to care for, players will have ample opportunities to engage with all types of species. The Animal Creator feature will allow players to create an unlimited number of animals and be able to customize each one. They can even add animals to any of the 20 different exhibits available in the game utilizing the Animal Adoption Network feature. Players can also learn about their animals through fun animal facts provided by National Geographic. Each animal is completely unique with different personalities and behaviors. It will be up to the player to determine ways to gain their trust and keep their animals happy, ultimately earning a Magic Moment from their animal.

World of Zoo is being developed by Blue Fang, creator of the highly successful Zoo Tycoon series. For more information on this game, please visit www.worldofzoo.com. Information on the rest of THQ's line-up of family-friendly titles is also available on www.playthq.com. ...

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced its new, original intellectual property, World of Zoo is currently in development to make its scheduled debut for Wii, Nintendo DS and Windows PC this fall. World of Zoo takes players beyond the fences and into their own zoo, allowing them to care for and build relationships with numerous animals through hands-on interactive gameplay. Packed full of customization features, players will be able to experience their own personalized virtual zoo creating an experience unlike any other animal-based simulation game. In addition, the game will be showcased at the upcoming E3 Expo 2009 being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

"We are excited to introduce this game to animal lovers and zoo fans of all ages," said Randy Shoemaker, vice president, global brand management at THQ. "This game expands the real-world zoo experience, giving players an all-access pass to interact with the world's most amazing animals up close and personal."

World of Zoo is a family-friendly game that will open the gates for gamers to freely roam their zoo in ways they have only imagined. With more than 90 different animals spanning 11 families to care for, players will have ample opportunities to engage with all types of species. The Animal Creator feature will allow players to create an unlimited number of animals and be able to customize each one. They can even add animals to any of the 20 different exhibits available in the game utilizing the Animal Adoption Network feature. Players can also learn about their animals through fun animal facts provided by National Geographic. Each animal is completely unique with different personalities and behaviors. It will be up to the player to determine ways to gain their trust and keep their animals happy, ultimately earning a Magic Moment from their animal.

World of Zoo is being developed by Blue Fang, creator of the highly successful Zoo Tycoon series. For more information on this game, please visit www.worldofzoo.com. Information on the rest of THQ's line-up of family-friendly titles is also available on www.playthq.com. ...

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today announced that Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals is currently in development for Wii, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system.

Sinister forces have deceived you to believe that your destructive behavior will save an epic hero. In reality, you're working for evil. Take control of a dynamic tornado as you tear through open environments, chewing up the landscape and spitting out everything in your path. The more you destroy, the bigger you grow as you work against time based, collection and point challenges in the search for hidden elements and enemies from another world. Zephyr provides expansive sandbox type gameplay and real time destruction allowing gamers to destroy what they want, when they want, where they want!

Zephyr delivers humor filled missions and varying objectives, ranging from blustery mischief at a local trailer park to gale force feats in the middle of sprawling cityscapes. Diverse action packed gameplay provides both casual and hardcore gamers the ability to tear through towns in beautifully stylized high definition action! Double the destructive power by playing co-operative multiplayer where two players drive through environments picking up and tossing everything standing in their way in an effort to do battle against the evil Omegaton. The items in a player's path range from the usual rusted tractors and rustic farms, to the strange and unexpected as you tear your way through increasingly complex and crowded areas around the world. Through large open worlds, users can take control of how objects are damaged and destroyed with the active destruction game mechanic. For added replayability, players can complete multiple missions and destroy different objects within environments to maximize each level and earn extra points.

Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals is being developed by Loose Cannon Studios and will be released in North America this Fall, for more information, please visit: www.konami.com/zephyr ...

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today announced that Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals is currently in development for Wii, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system.

Sinister forces have deceived you to believe that your destructive behavior will save an epic hero. In reality, you're working for evil. Take control of a dynamic tornado as you tear through open environments, chewing up the landscape and spitting out everything in your path. The more you destroy, the bigger you grow as you work against time based, collection and point challenges in the search for hidden elements and enemies from another world. Zephyr provides expansive sandbox type gameplay and real time destruction allowing gamers to destroy what they want, when they want, where they want!

Zephyr delivers humor filled missions and varying objectives, ranging from blustery mischief at a local trailer park to gale force feats in the middle of sprawling cityscapes. Diverse action packed gameplay provides both casual and hardcore gamers the ability to tear through towns in beautifully stylized high definition action! Double the destructive power by playing co-operative multiplayer where two players drive through environments picking up and tossing everything standing in their way in an effort to do battle against the evil Omegaton. The items in a player's path range from the usual rusted tractors and rustic farms, to the strange and unexpected as you tear your way through increasingly complex and crowded areas around the world. Through large open worlds, users can take control of how objects are damaged and destroyed with the active destruction game mechanic. For added replayability, players can complete multiple missions and destroy different objects within environments to maximize each level and earn extra points.

Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals is being developed by Loose Cannon Studios and will be released in North America this Fall, for more information, please visit: www.konami.com/zephyr ...

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today announced that Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals is currently in development for Wii, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system.

Sinister forces have deceived you to believe that your destructive behavior will save an epic hero. In reality, you're working for evil. Take control of a dynamic tornado as you tear through open environments, chewing up the landscape and spitting out everything in your path. The more you destroy, the bigger you grow as you work against time based, collection and point challenges in the search for hidden elements and enemies from another world. Zephyr provides expansive sandbox type gameplay and real time destruction allowing gamers to destroy what they want, when they want, where they want!

Zephyr delivers humor filled missions and varying objectives, ranging from blustery mischief at a local trailer park to gale force feats in the middle of sprawling cityscapes. Diverse action packed gameplay provides both casual and hardcore gamers the ability to tear through towns in beautifully stylized high definition action! Double the destructive power by playing co-operative multiplayer where two players drive through environments picking up and tossing everything standing in their way in an effort to do battle against the evil Omegaton. The items in a player's path range from the usual rusted tractors and rustic farms, to the strange and unexpected as you tear your way through increasingly complex and crowded areas around the world. Through large open worlds, users can take control of how objects are damaged and destroyed with the active destruction game mechanic. For added replayability, players can complete multiple missions and destroy different objects within environments to maximize each level and earn extra points.

Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals is being developed by Loose Cannon Studios and will be released in North America this Fall, for more information, please visit: www.konami.com/zephyr ...

Today at the Microsoft Press Conference Rock Band Beatles was on display. The most notable part of the performance was that the three singers were on stage with the rest of the band (drums, bass, guitar) and they were singing harmonies that were being tracked separately at the top of the screen.

Set for a September 9 release, the game features 45 Beatles classics reworked specifically for the game. MTV Games revealed ten of the tracks:

I Saw Her Standing There

I Want to Hold Your Hand
I Feel Fine

Day Tripper

Taxman

I Am the Walrus

Back in the USSR

Octopus's Garden

Here Comes the Sun

Get Back

On top of the in-game songs, full Beatles albums will be made available for download. The first of these, Abbey Road, is expected shortly after The Beatles: Rock Band is released.

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/988/988622p1.html ...