It seems that grabbing the lime light at the expense of the game Grand Theft Auto is no longer reserved for soul less lawyers. Now people with aspiring political hopes and non profit organizations are jumping on the band wagon also. Earlier this week US presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama made sure to chime in with his thoughts on GTA IV and the video game industry as a whole and now Mothers Against Drunk Driving have lowered themselves to using Grand Theft Auto IV to promote their agenda.

“Drunk driving is not a game, and it is not a joke,” MADD said in a statement released Tuesday. “Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable.” MADD is also calling on publisher Take-Two Interactive and developer Rockstar Games to consider stopping distribution of the game. MADD is upset by the fact that in the game the player has the option to go to a bar and have a few drinks. When the player exits the bar he is stumbling drunk and actually falls down every few steps. The screen is extremely blurry and it becomes almost impossible to control the character with any sort of precision. The player then has the option enter a vehicle and attempt to drive away.

Now lets look at all the facts first before passing judgment to quickly. First and fore most the game gives the player the option to easily hail a taxi to take you to your destination. But in the game the main character Niko Bellic’s brother Roman owns a taxi service and makes the offer to you that you can call and use his taxi service free of charge any time. Second, when you enter a vehicle an attempt and I do stress the word “attempt” to drive while Niko is intoxicated it is the next thing to impossible to drive the vehicle. If anything MADD should be praising Grand Theft Auto IV for its efforts to try to educate people to the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol. After reading this article I tested this feature in the game, after knocking back a few at the local Irish bar in the game I attempted to drive home. The ride to the bar took me a total of two minutes, the ride home took almost ten minutes. By the time I got to my destination I had ran into several people and countless cars. I found while under the influence operating a vehicle to be almost impossible. One thing that publisher Take-Two Interactive and developer Rockstar Games should consider is increasing the chances of being pulled over and arrested by the police if the character chooses to drive while drunk. In my little test I did pass at least three police offices and never once did any of them attempted to stop and arrest me. I think it would go a long way to building some good will toward the game if Rockstar Games would consider making this adjustment in a downloadable patch update of the game.

I have always applauded MADD for their efforts in their fight against Drunk Driving. But here is a little hint to the members of MADD. You should probably have one of your representatives actually play the game before you start making statements about it. If some virtual people are run over and killed in a videogame it may go a long way in making real people see the real dangers drinking and driving in real life.

Link

Over the last few months there has been lots of press about Electronic Arts hostile bid for Rockstar Studios. I sincerely hope that Rockstar Studios does not get sucked up into the giant dark abyss that is Electronic Arts.

One simple thing Rockstar Studios could do to fend off a hostile take over is begin working on a Massively Multiplayer Online version of it mega hit Grand Theft Auto. (more…)

Xbox LIVE’s MajorNelson has broke the news that the code jockey’s at Microsoft have finished with another batch of Xbox 1 games that are now playable on the Xbox 360. None of the titles are really terribly exciting other then The Guy Game, and Playboy The Mansion. But I am sure there are plenty of 360 owners that have many of these titles in their game libraries and like to occasionally pull them out every once and a while and enjoy a blast from the past. Although I am not sure how many gamers could find the time right now to go back to Xbox 1 games, when the 360 has just a sick amount of brand new shinny games just released.

Below is the latest list:
Freestyle Street Soccer
Future Tactics: The Uprising
Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee
Godzilla Save the Earth
Goldeneye Rogue Agent
Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball Max’d
High Heat MLB 2004
Hunter: The Reckoning
Indiana Jones And The Emperors Tomb
MLB Slugfest Loaded
MVP Baseball 2003
MVP Baseball 2004
MVP Baseball 2005
Nascar Thunder 2002
Nascar Thunder 2003
NBA 2k3
NBA Ballers
NBA Inside Drive 2002
NBA Street V3
NCAA College Basketball 2k3
NCAA March Madness 2005
NCAA March Madness 2006
NFL 2k2
NFL 2k3
NHL 2005
NHL 2K3
NHL Hitz Pro
Nightcaster: Defeat The Darkness
NTRA Breeders Cup: World Thoroughbred Championships
Playboy The Mansion
RLH Hunt or be Hunted
Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown
Rocky
Rugby 2006
Shattered Union
Shrek Super Party
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
Starsky & Hutch
Syberia II
Techmo Classic Arcade
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Test Drive
The Bard’s Tale
The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
The Guy Game
The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age
Thousand Land
Thrillville
Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers
Turok: Evolution
Van Helsing
WarPath
Worms 3D
Zathura

For a complete list of list of Xbox 1 games that are backwards compatible game with the Xbox 360 click here

Via MajorNelson

With the release of Manhunt 2 all the usual suspects are taking this opportunity to cash in on some easy publicity. They make statements about training children to become killers and all the other psycho babble they routinely parrot every time a game comes out that involves anything other then a Disney character running around on the screen. Creating unreasonable fear and blaming most of the world’s problems on the imaginary video game boogey man does not do help fix anything, but it does increase publicity and boost ratings. In reality what many parents need is help in identifying what games, movies, and music their children are consuming. In this article we will focus mainly on monitoring video games but many of the same principles apply to other forms of questionable media.

Many parents work long hours and have very stressful jobs, it is understandable that after a hard day at work all you want to do is unwind with your favorite television program or head down to the gym and work out for a couple of hours before heading off to bed. The easy way to parenting is to let a DVD or video game entertain your child and keep them occupied while you unwind from the stresses of life. But really, isn’t parenting about guiding and preparing your children to be responsible adults? Face it most of the content in television, movies, music and definitely video games is not going to do that for you. You need to be the one who decides what is good and what is not so good for your children to consume. Remember the age old adage of an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Keep unwanted content out of the house as much as possible. Look at the covers of all the video games that your children want you to buy while they are still at the store. Video Game companies are not trying to hide anything from you. Look for a big white box that says “ESRB”, below that will tell you what group this games was designed for and all the different kinds of content that are in the game. It is spelled out in easy to read language. Also you can go to the ESRB’s website at www.ESRB.org to get more information.

Another suggestion is keep video games in common areas of the house. If kids can go down in the basement or hide out in their rooms to play video games this may give them a sense they may be able to get away with something they are not suppose to. But having to play in a living room or other common areas will let them know that you are watching or that you could walk into the room where they are playing. This will help deter them from smuggling in content that has been forbidden. When you know children are playing video games check in on them regularly. Watch the actual game play, if every time you come in there is nothing happening on the screen and it looks like they are in a menu system you should hang around there is a good chance they do not want you to see what they are actually doing inside this video game. That said ask to play the game with them. Many games today allow two or more players to play at the same time by splitting the screen in half or even into four pieces. This is something that a parent and a number of siblings can all enjoy together.

If children are asking for a game, research it. This site, as well as thousands of other sites on the internet are created to provide you with information about games and the content within them. Do a Google search on the game title and chances are you will come back with more information then you could ever read in one setting.

There are many different game renting services that will allow you to play a game before you buy it. This is one way to be absolutely sure of what your child is playing. If your children are asking for a specific game you may want to rent the game and play it before buying it for your kids. This will also help with picking out the crappy licensed material games that are actually terrible games that have popular television or movie characters in them.

Civil rights are for adults who can afford lawyers. You as the parent should never feel guilty about going through your children’s room and looking for inappropriate material or eavesdropping on conversations and looking up titles of games, movies, or music that they are listening too. Your job as a parent is to make sure your children become responsible adults. Bending what your children may perceive as civil liberties is nothing to be ashamed of. Besides if you do not find anything then you know that your child has a sound basis of what is right and wrong and you know you are doing a good job in parenting. Or they are really good at hiding stuff!

Once you feel your child is old enough it may not be a bad idea to sit down with them and explain that there are things that are acceptable to do in video games, but in the real world those things are not acceptable. If they are able to understand that games are make believe, a way to live out some exciting fantasies but when they quit the game the real world rules come back into play then you may want to take that fact into account when deciding what is acceptable for them to play and what is not.

Let the Tech lend a Helping Hand
Most console manufactures are trying to help parents out as much as they can. Both the Xbox 360, and the Nintendo Wii have some pretty good parental controls built into them. The Playstation 2 had them in but I myself have not researched the PS3 parental controls enough to speak about them.

Do not be shy about looking into how these controls work, and how to use them. If you feel over whelmed by them go back to where you purchased the console and ask for some help, or consult the manufacture’s webpage on how to use these controls.

Here at AroundtheController.com we are going to do more articles in the future to help parents monitor their children gaming habits. But it really does fall back on you as the parent to be informed and stay on top of this situation. Do not let the government parent your children for you. Looking at most politicians and seeing what they do at their jobs and in their free time makes me scared as to how my child would turn out if they were allowed to raise my child. Try to also parse out what people on Television and the internet are saying. Some of it is good information, but allot of it is just them trying to boost their ratings or get more attention for themselves.

Everyone get your TIVO’s or any other DVR (I sure hope none of you are still using a VCR, but if you are set that) set for CNN’s Virtual Worlds. Virtual worlds have enabled breathtaking vistas on movie screens, heart-pounding action in computer games, bought millions of people together and transformed the way we communicate with each other. Broadcast from Stanford University and Singapore, the latest ‘CNN Future Summit’ program gets to the heart of these remarkable developments with the biggest global players leading this digital revolution.

CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout hosts the hour-long program, looking at the blurring lines between reality and imagination and how these technological developments are shaping our communities and the lives of our children. Distinguished panelists include the founders of Wikipedia, Second Life, Flickr and EA in addition to renowned academics and psychologists who together form a vision of our future, today.

And what will this future look like? The ability to always be in touch with friends and family will be greatly enhanced when we’re able to see each other in absolute clarity, anywhere, anytime. We’ll find ourselves living, shopping and working more and more inside online worlds. And in the future, you won’t be sitting on your couch being passively entertained. Films will become more interactive and more immersive, while games will become more cinematic and realistic. Indeed the program itself also utilizes many cutting edge techniques used in modern film and television production in order to capture the fascinating future of virtual worlds.

‘CNN Future Summit’ is a two-year multi-media program produced in association with the Singapore Tourist Board (STB), which aims to stimulate global discussion. Through www.cnn.com/futuresummit, viewers around the world are invited to explore the views and interactive with the remarkable list of leading explorers, scientists, philosophers, designers, entrepreneurs, futurists, authors, and journalists.

‘CNN Future Summit’ can be seen on Wednesday 13th June at 1500 BST / 1600 CET, Saturday 16th June and Sunday 17th June at 2000 BST / 2100 CET.

Via Press Release

Any gamer will tell you that if they are having a bad day at work or going through a rough time in their lives, games can be the escape from the real world of pain or unhappiness.  At the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a nonprofit group called Cause was looking for ways to help soldiers deal with their injuries after returning from the war. The best solution they’ve found? Video games. 

In a quote from the Washington Post:

Video games are all over Walter Reed. They’re used for therapy or entertainment, or both. Alcibar doesn’t have any hand injuries, but he’s been trying to persuade some of his physical therapists to make Guitar Hero available to those who do. It would probably help some soldiers rebuild their hand strength and dexterity. And it’s another excuse to play.

The hospital allows patients to check out games and systems, and also has monthly get-togethers to get the soldiers out of their rooms and playing socially. Which would you rather do, sit in your room and brood over your injuries, or hand someone their butt in Virtua Fighter 5? Chuck Ziegenfuss, a wounded major in the army, also said that being able to take part in such a routine part of life can help to normalize the soldiers after such a life-changing experience. 

Some studies have hinted that virtual reality and gaming in general can help people with their pain, and most gamers already know that social gaming has many other benefits that are harder to pin down scientifically. In a hospital environment, away from home, being able to play games with people who have been through the same things you have must be good medicine.

Source ars technical

So if you are like me then the corporate higher ups have inked a company policy that all computers loaded with Microsoft Windows will have the games removed.  No Solitaire, No Hearts in short no fun at work!  Those slave drivers up in the front office want to feel confident that you are working hard to make sure there is plenty of profit sharing and 401K money to plunder for their own toga personal birthday parties.

But what if Old Scrooge sitting up there in his luxurious office with private bathroom and private hot tub with the cute young secretary right outside his office could be convinced that playing a casual game on the computer would actually help you be more productive and increase creativity?  According to a study performed by WorldWinners 76 percent of those who play intermittently at work report improved performance on the job.  The survey, which involved more than 500 players who compete at WorldWinner.com, reveals surprising new reasons workers take time out of their day to play casual games. Among them, more than 80 percent of respondents who play online games during the workday feel better-focused on work as a result of periodic mental breaks associated with game play, 76 percent report improved productivity, and 72 percent rely on game breaks to reduce job-related stress.  Survey respondents represent a wide cross-section of the workforce. Nearly 60 percent of respondents are employed full-time, with 32 percent self-employed. Further, almost half are employed outside of the home while some 33 percent work within the home. The top three industries represented include retail/wholesale trade (11%), healthcare (8%) and education (7%) – while IT vocations accounted for just 5 percent. Sales and general administration were the top two functional areas reported, with career level varying widely from executives to administrative staff.

“When I need a break during the workday, I often turn to online skill games to recharge my brain,” said WorldWinner player Jeff R. “I’ve found that taking a few minutes and challenging myself with a word game, puzzle, sports or card game can really boost my productivity; I return to work with a fresh perspective and improved creativity. Playing games can also get me revved up before starting a big project – especially when I win!”

“This survey further reinforces the growth trends we are seeing in the online games industry; increasingly, people are turning to these games for more than entertainment,” said Peter Blacklow, president, WorldWinner. “Our games are designed to be played in quick spurts by players at virtually any skill level; and we continue to expand our games portfolio with this diverse consumer in mind. It’s a great compliment to us that today’s workers are logging on and finding not only fast-paced competitions and exciting tournaments, but also creative inspiration.”

If you want to read more visit WorldWinner at their website.
 

Via Press Release

MumboJumbo, a developer and publisher of premium casual games, today announced their sponsorship and participation in the annual “Readers Are Leaders” Mayor’s Summer Reading Program. In support of the program, which is designed to promote reading and literacy in the Dallas area, MumboJumbo has donated 2,000 games to be distributed to local children who reach a reading goal of 100 hours between May 19th and July 28th. The Dallas Public Library has offered special reading programs to area youth for over 30 years, and the Mayor’s Summer Reading Program has been a successful part of that program for 10 years and counting.

“We’re pleased to welcome MumboJumbo as a new sponsor of the Mayor’s Summer Reading program, and we are very excited that they have agreed to provide educational computer software to children who read 100 hours this summer,” said Dallas Central Library Administrator, Kjerstine Nielsen. “It’s a cool prize, and really complements the Mayor’s annual program in Dallas.”

“MumboJumbo maintains a deep commitment to community involvement, and support of programs that have a positive impact on today’s youth,” said Mark Cottam, CEO of MumboJumbo. “Like books, games can be relaxing, educational, and fun. We’re delighted to be a part of the program to help the Mayor’s summer program reach new heights and motivate children to make reading a major part of their summer activity.”

MumboJumbo has donated 500 of each of their popular PC titles, Zoom Book: The Temples of the Sun, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, Charlotte’s Web: Word Rescue, and Haiku Journey to the readers that achieve the reading goal. Each game retails for $19.95, making a grand total of $40,000 in donations. MumboJumbo’s casual, interactive PC titles are suitable for kids of all ages and fun for the whole family.

Visit their website here

Via Press Release

So last week we talked about trying to become a surgeon after playing the Trauma Center series from Atlus on the Nintendo DS, and Nintendo Wii.

This week I have been playing Splinter Cell Double Agent.  Now I have played through the other three Splinter Cell games so I am not a noob in this area.  Not wanting to get black listed by the FBI, or CIA for making prank phone calls to their HR department I decided to measure my spy skills I have acquired in a different way.  At my job there is this old lady that sits in the cube next to me, and every time I get up to go on break, go to the bathroom, or just to waste time she will look at me and then look at the clock and monitor the time I leave my desk until the time I get back.  So I have decided that with all my virtual sneaking around in dark shadows I should be able to get back at sneaking past her.

Now I will say that with all this virtual experience in sneaking I figured out how to confuse the old lady that watches over me like vulture waiting for its prey to weaken to a point where it can be eaten.  I walked past her in the opposite way of the bathrooms or the break rooms.  I would grab some papers out of my recycling bin so it looked like I was on office business and then took the long way around to get to the bathroom.  Yes, I had my Nintendo DS in my pocket so I could play Hotel Dusk or Pokemon in the bathroom. 

To continue my sneaking tactics I tried sneaking up on my wife, when she was looking in the refrigerator.  As I got right up behind her she turned around and smacked me in face with a bottle of ketchup.

So once again I believe that I have proven that video games do not train you for real live tasks and occupations. 

My wife made the demand that I get rid of some of the clutter in the house, so I started clearing out some of the magazines that seem to pile up in the living room.  As I was going through the piles I saw a headline on the cover of PSM of June 2006 entitled “Warning Games are under attack!” which caught my eye.  The author brings up six points that he feels are a danger to the video game industry.  So after reading the article I could not help but be offended that several of the points out right blamed customers for the problems the video game industry is experiencing.

Blowing through the first point of governmental restrictions and other such nonsense, I got to the second point which is what caught my attention “Used Games”.  The writer went on to explain that developers see this as customers taking money out of their pocket.  If a consumer purchases a used copy of a game the developer and publisher do not receive any additional revenue from that sale.  All the profit goes to the company or person who sold the game.  And this is now one less new copy that is sold.  All morning long this was really gnawing at me.  It really reminds me of the RIAA whom I have absolutely no love for.  So I sat down and made a list of things that game developers and publishers can do to reduce the number of customers who sell the games they have purchased.

The simple fact is that Publishers and Developers need to produce a product, and then keep interest in that product.  That way the customer will feel the urge to keep using their product, and keep finding value from that product and will not want to sell it.

I know it seems obvious, and should go with out saying but as a consumer I think it needs to be said.  Stop making crappy video games!  I do not know how many games I have purchased that have bugs in them, or need updates, or were just not thought out well at all.  If I start playing a game and the controls are terrible or for any reason I get frustrated and put it down in fifteen minutes, there is probably a ninety percent chance that game is going to end up on EBay or at GameStop.  Game developers and publishers need to remember that we live in an age where information can span the globe in a matter of seconds.  That means if you create a terrible video game, everybody on earth will know it is crap in a matter of hours being released.  With big websites like IGN, GameSpot, and countless Podcast and other forms of Internet media people are going to know that your game is crap and probably not buy it.  So simply put, make great games.  Games should be easy to play, look good, sound good, the computer AI should be reasonably intelligent, and have some sort of interesting story line. Camera angles should have some planning put into them. The controls should be responsive, and sprite collision should be honed as close to perfection as possible.

Second and this is just as equally important. Develop a strong multi player mode with in the game. If this is a game that I can play through on my own then share the experience with others I am much more likely to keep the game instead of trading it in. This means that the game should support split screen, system link, and online game play. I should be able to play through the single player story mode but this time able to share the experience with friends. I should be able to play head to head with a variety of different games types. Halo 2 was released over two years ago and still a group of friends and myself get together every other month and play for an evening, while other games I have played and traded in within a couple of weeks. Lets face it playing a game by yourself is fun for a week maybe two at the most. If you can share that experience with someone you can keep coming back and playing over and over again. Truly great multi player games are played until the system life is over or until the next version of the game comes out.

If you create a great video game, especially a game with a great multi player mode publishers need to keep the game fresh and exciting. Put out new content new maps, new weapons, missions, and new characters. You really should give some of this content away, but charge for some new content also. Free content gives consumers the feeling that they are getting something extra on their original investment. But since all their friends will be online playing the content that you have to pay for, they will want to buy it also. New content should really be distributed every three to four months until the next version of the game available for sale. Release new content a month before the new version comes out so that excitement is built for the new version. This will give publishers one last infusion of profit before the game is put out to pasture.  Online content is another way for developers to get some revenue from new customers who purchased used copies of their games.  Maybe you did miss out on the initial sale of the used game itself, but here is a chance to get some revenue from this customer when they buy up some download only content.

Games need to have more content. I have not played the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, but from what I have read on web forms and blogs it can be played through in one to two sessions of game play. If I laid down $60 and was through the game in two days I would feel ripped off, especially if the game does not have a strong multi player mode. Then publishers wonder why people want to sell the game to get some money back. A good example of large amounts of content is the Grand Theft Auto series, there is enough content in that game for the player to play for many enjoyable nights. The new Mario Brothers for the Nintendo DS is suppose to have 88 levels in it, enough to keep gamers up late at night for weeks. I swore I would never buy another EA game after buying Tiger Woods Golf for the Xbox 360 only to find out it has half the courses that the original Xbox had! And on top of that I had to pay $10 more. Madden 2006 for the Xbox 360 also had less content then the original Xbox plus was $10 more to purchase! This is wrong and when consumers feel ripped off one of the first things they do is sell the game to try to get back some of the money they feel they have been robbed of.

Finally gamers feel that games are getting to expensive. We see game publishers taking money from companies looking for in game advertising, and then the money they charge us for the game itself, and then they are right away looking for you to pay for downloadable content. In game advertising is not a bad thing, as long as it is not obnoxious like Fight Night 2006 and Burger King. Small things like seeing a Nokia phone ad on a computer screen in Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory, or a Dodge truck sign in Ghost Recon:Advance Warfighter are perfectly fine with me. I am more likely to purchase these products knowing that they are helping support an industry that I enjoy.

While I will concede that there must be allot gamers who pirate games and this is something that is a direct problem that consumers are to blame for, I know that part of the reason I have to pay $40 to $60 for a game is because of piracy. But I think the majority of us gamers believe in supporting the industry and do not mind paying a fair price for the entertainment that we enjoy so much.

In short consider dropping the price and you will probably sell more games for a little bit less money and you will mostly likely come out with a better bottom line. I have said it time and time again, if the game is fun people will buy it. If the game has lots of replay ability with in it such as multi player and unlockables people will hold onto the game longer.