Guitar manufacturer Gibson is suing Activision, claiming the Guitar Hero videogames violate a patent for “simulating a musical performance.”
Activision has asked a federal court to rule the claim invalid. Continued…
It’s the battle of the fake plastic-guitar karaoke bands!
Viacom has dropped its lawsuit against Activision, having cowed the Santa Monica, California-based games publisher into negotiating out of court. Viacom owns Harmonix, creators of the first two Guitar Hero games and Rock Band.
Viacom’s claim is that Activision owes $14.5 million in royalties over technology used in Guitar Hero III. Continued…
The Church of England has accepted Sony’s apology for using the image of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man.
Sony apologized when this “scandal” first hit in June. But they have refused to recall or alter the game.
The Very Reverend Rogers Govender, Dean of Manchester Cathedral:
I think some important lessons have been learnt. So we do forgive Sony for what they have done, even though they still believe they have done nothing wrong. Continued…
Everyone knows how hard it is to return an opened videogame. You’ll have an easier time getting a refund for used underwear. But don’t follow the example of a northern California man, who posed as a police officer to return a copy of Cars.
Steven Scott Sather, 46 of Turlock, a tiny town south of Modesto, couldn’t get the local Target store to take back a copy of the movie tie-in game which wouldn’t run properly. So he pulled out his badge — he was a code enforcement officer for the county Department of Environmental Resources — and pretended to be a police officer. Continued…
Wired discusses Microsoft’s Game Content Usage Rules, a document that tells Halo fans exactly what they can and can’t do in machinima; and compares it to Blizzard’s new machinima rulebook for World of Warcraft. Machinima is the practice of making animated movies using videogame engines.
The Microsoft document basically places four restrictions: Continued…
Hyperbole and scare-mongering were de rigueur at a weeklong “anti-piracy” conference in Hollywood.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Los Angeles Counterfeiting and Piracy Awareness Week began last Thursday and featured comments by many high-level politicos that could affect how you play. They included: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; singer Mary Wilson of The Supremes; California legislators Howard Berman, Diane Watson and Brad Sherman; MPAA anti-piracy lobbyist Mike Robinson; former Dreamworks exec and Los Angeles City Councilmember Wendy Greuel; and Safwat Fahmy of SafeMedia Corp., which produces software designed to break P2P networks. Continued…
More Wikipedia-edit shenanigans have come to light — and this time the culprit is the Entertainment Software Association.
Using Wikipedia Scanner, GamePolitics.com has uncovered changes to the Wikipedia modchip entry, made from behind the ESA firewall. Continued…
According to press reports, a senior Microsoft exec dumped $9.2 million in shares shortly before the software giant announced its $1 billion warranty extension on faulty Xbox 360 consoles.
The stock sales by Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, are spurring speculation of insider trading. The sales were not properly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The announcement did not in fact affect Microsoft stock severely; shares closed only 2% down the Monday following the announcement.
As many as 30% of the consoles may suffer fatal crashes due to a design flaw.
Via GamePolitics and Ars Technica.
