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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 17 declined, 18 accepted (35 total, 51.43% accepted)

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Businesses

Submission + - UK games retailers threaten boycott of Steam games

Submitted by RogueyWon
RogueyWon writes: Games industry trade site MCV is reporting that two major UK video games retailers are threatening to ban Steam-enabled PC games from their stores. The as-yet-unnamed retailers are apparently concerned that by selling Steam games, they are pointing their customers towards a competitor and will by trying to bring pressure upon publishers to strip Steam functionality from their games. This could prove an interesting test of where the real power lies at the retail end of PC gaming.
Businesses

Submission + - Gran Turismo 5 Delayed. Again. (slashdot.org)

Submitted by RogueyWon
RogueyWon writes: Sony have just announced via the official Playstation blog that Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5 has been delayed yet again. This delay hits just three weeks before the game was supposed to arrive on the shelves. A release before Christmas is still being suggested, but a healthy degree of skepticism might be wise. Delays have already hit other Playstation 3 exclusives, such as Littlebigplanet 2, meaning that Gran Turismo 5 had been increasingly central to Sony's strategy for the holiday period. This delay isn't just bad news for racing game fans; it's also seriously bad news for Sony and their investors.
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - Final Fantasy XIV launches to scathing reviews

Submitted by RogueyWon
RogueyWon writes: Now that the massively-multiplayer Final Fantasy XIV has been on the shelves for a couple of weeks, the reviews are starting to arrive; and it appears that the game is the subject of a critical battering unprecedented in the history of the main Final Fantasy series. First it was the Amazon user reviews, then Gamespot weighed in, describing the game as a "step backwards for the genre" and now IGN has described it as "an arduous experience that, in its current state, isn't worth playing". Given the general dissatisfaction that surrounded the release of the (offline) Final Fantasy XIII earlier in the year, many long-time fans of the series must now be wondering whether the magic hasn't departed.
Advertising

Submission + - Fallout advert mocks Japanese RPGs (kotaku.com)

Submitted by RogueyWon
RogueyWon writes: Kotaku is reporting that Bethesda's Japanese marketing campaign for the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas is based around some pretty savage mockery of commonly perceived failings of Japanese role-playing games. While it's dubious whether this tactic will actually boost the game's sales in a notoriously hard market for Western developers to crack, many of the criticisms contained in the advert of Japan's domestic RPGs ring true. Is it time that Japanese RPG developers, increasingly focussed on underwhelming extended cinematic experiences and low-budget hand-held titles, took note of the lessons from Western developers such as Bioware and Bethesda?
First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - Infinity Ward lead developers axed unexpectedly (slashdot.org) 1

Submitted by RogueyWon
RogueyWon writes: Kotaku is reporting that Infinity Ward, developer of Modern Warfare 2, has been at the centre of strange events, and that Jason West and Vince Zampella, two lead developers, have been fired by parent company Activision for "breaches of contract and insubordination". Speculation is rife as to the reasons behind this; following Modern Warfare 2's spectacular sales figures, it seems unlikely that the studio's performance could be to blame.
Games

Submission + - Blizzard temporarily bans WoW's top guild (mmo-champion.com) 1

Submitted by
RogueyWon
RogueyWon writes: "MMO Champion is reporting that Blizzard have temporarily banned the world's top World of Warcraft guild, for what appears to be the accidental exploitation of a bug that Blizzard themselves have introduced into the final encounter of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Details are somewhat sparse, and those that are available have mostly come from the guild involved, but it appears that a bug in the fight meant that normal tactics caused some of the boss's mechanics to fail to trigger, resulting in the boss being easier to defeat than intended. Blizzard's draconian response seems likely to raise eyebrows, given that their own testing cycle clearly shares at least part of the blame."
Games

Submission + - Gran Turismo 5 delayed

Submitted by RogueyWon
RogueyWon writes: The Times is reporting that Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5, likely to prove a key title for the Playstation 3, has been delayed indefinitely, despite an expectation that it would be released relatively early in 2010. As reported by the Times, the delay seems likely to impact Sony's plans to bundle the game with the Playstation 3 console, in time for the important spring sales period in Japan.
Games

Submission + - The top games of 2009

Submitted by RogueyWon
RogueyWon writes: The end of the year can always be depended upon to bring a flood of "game of the year" roundups. This year, Eurogamer seem to be kicking things off, with their readers' top 50 list and their editorial pick. These articles usually prove contentious, and no doubt there will be plenty of dissenting views this year. Of course, with the start of a new decade now upon us, now might be a good time to reflect on the best games of 2000-2009.
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - Sony gives away free HD-TVs at London PS3 launch

Submitted by
RogueyWon
RogueyWon writes: "As reported by the BBC, Sony have accompanied the UK launch of the PS3 with a rather spectacular PR move, giving away free HD TVs to more than 100 gamers who had queued up for hours at the Virgin Megastore on London's Oxford Street. To top this off, Sony also paid for taxi rides home (hardly cheap in London), to avoid ugly scenes as the lucky customers carried their expensive toys across the city. The move, reported to have cost Sony £250,000, certainly seems to have gone down well with the beneficiaries. With a price-tag significantly higher in Europe than in the rest of the world, the coming weeks will tell whether other UK gamers will be as enthusiastic."
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - Cutting through the hype on Second Life's economy

Submitted by
RogueyWon
RogueyWon writes: "The Register, which often takes a sceptical view of Second Life, has an article up that claims to cut through much of the hype surrounding the online world's economy. From the article:

"In other words, this economy has a population about the size of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, or Troutdale, Oregon. And each business has the prospect of a market of no more than 100 people in one place — a number easily accommodated by a church hall."
Unwarrented grumbling, or an valid rejoinder to the latest online media darling?"

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