Headline RePLAY – 1.20.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: The internet is victorious over SOPA and PIPA and Ed Boon unveils the secrets of Mortal Kombat on the PS Vita!   

In a climactic finale worthy of any blockbuster, the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act were halted today in the House and Senate respectively.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid both abandoned plans to act on SOPA and PIPA Friday— a sign Politico indicates that internet protests have killed the twin bills.

However, this doesn’t mean the bills cannot be resurrected again in another form.

“The Committee will continue work with copyright owners, Internet companies, financial institutions to develop proposals that combat online piracy and protect America’s intellectual property,” said in a statement released by Smith.

“There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved,” echoed Reid.

Ultimately, Politico observed in light of “members wary of another internet backlash” and with the upcoming presidential race, it’s highly unlikely either bill will be making a return this year.

*Source: Politico

NetherRealm Studios’ answer for their games has always been more, more, MORE. With Mortal Kombat’s transition to the PlayStation Vita, their answer remains unchanged: MORE.

In an interview with PlayStation.Blog, NetherRealm Studios’ Ed Boon revealed that the Vita version of Mortal Kombat will include a second Challenge Tower. “There are actually two Challenge Towers in the PS Vita version, and the new one has 150 challenges that are exclusive to PS Vita. A number of those challenges use PS Vita’s hardware features: the touch screen, the accelerometer…” said Boon.

While that’s one heckuva content update in itself, Boon also divulged that fatalities can be performed via touchscreen. “For fatalities, you can ‘slash’ the screen with the appropriate inputs — say, away, away, up — to execute the fatality. It makes some of the more difficult fatalities easier and it’s fun to slash at your screen to fire off a fatality. I was surprised by how engaging it is.”

Additionally, Boon reassures fans that Mortal Kombat won’t lose its coveted 60 FPS framerate in its transition to the PS Vita.

*Source: PlayStation.Blog

Headline RePLAY – 1.17.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: It’s all about SOPA and how the DNS blocking provision got removed, the bill becoming a political liability for supporters and how much the gaming industry spent on pushing PIPA, the Senate equivalent of SOPA.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the author of the Stop Online Piracy act, removed a key provision last week, which if passed, would’ve allowed copyright holders to force ISPs to block an offending website’s DNS record and thus thwarting user access.    

“After consultation with industry groups across the country, I feel we should remove Domain Name System-blocking from the Stop Online Piracy Act so that the Committee can further examine the issues surrounding this provision,” Smith said in the statement.

However, even with the DNS blocking removed, SOPA remains armed and dangerous— the bill still can grant right owners to cutoff revenue towards alleged sites, effectively besieging them. And the component lives on in the bill’s Senate equivalent: the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

*Source: eWeek.com

Opposition of SOPA is making itself known on capitol hill as backers are experiencing the fury of the internet.

Politico stipulates that “it’s a stretch to think SOPA will cost any of the longtime incumbents backing the bill their seats” but it could become a “real factor” in some races, like in the case of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), one of SOPA’s co-sponsors.

Ryan is now facing the weight of Reddit’s online campaign dubbed “Operation Pull Ryan” and his Democratic challenger, Rob Zerban, that’s exploiting the uproar. Zebran attacked the bill in an interview on Reddit and collected $15,000 in campaign donations, according to his campaign manager, Lisa Tanner.

In response, Ryan released a statement opposing SOPA in “no uncertain terms.” Ryan noted while the bill “attempts to address a legitimate problem” it would open the door to “undue regulation, censorship and legal abuse.”

Conversely, co-sponsor Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) stood her ground despite criticisms leveled against her. “Critics of SOPA can’t deny the undisputed fact that piracy hurts America,” said Blackburn in a statement. “The fact is SOPA only applies to dedicated foreign rogue sites that are harming American consumers and created.”

Recently, even GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum were asked to weigh in on the issue.

*Source: Politico

Politicians swayed by lobbyists? Say it ain’t so! In an unveiling that won’t surprise anyone, Kotaku reports that the ESA spent over $1,000,000 to lobby for the Protect IP Act.

Kotaku points out records for the second and third quarters show that the ESA spent more than $1,000,000 lobbying politicians every three months and paid two firms $190,000 combined about PIPA and other issues.

And in order to influence how politicians crafted the Protect IP Act, the ESA paid the Smith-Free Group $60,000 between April 1 and June 30 for “discussions relating to online infringements of intellectual property” in addition to non-PIPA/SOPA causes.

Additionally, Kotaku reports that the ESA paid the Franklin Square Group $40,000 in the spring and another $40,000 in the summer to lobby for PIPA and an array of other causes.

*Source: Kotaku

Headline RePLAY – 1.13.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: South Korea finally rates Diablo III, Nvidia opposes SOPA and SEGA answers the “hard reset” controversy.

The South Korean drama to get a rating for Diablo III by the Game Rating Board ends today after much debate over the game’s Real Money Auction House (RMAH) feature, an addition that authorities associates with gambling.

DualShockers reports that the average waiting time for a game to receive a rating in an Asian country is usually 15 days, but Diablo III took about a month plus several delays due to concerns over the RMAH.

The RMAH was ultimately nixed for the Korean market, but Diablo III is now on its way to be released in South Korea and rest of the world in a global release.

*Source: DualShockers

It’s not just videogame publishers and developers that are voicing their opposition to SOPA; graphics card manufacturer Nvidia joins the opposition after releasing a statement denouncing the bill.

“NVIDIA wasn’t consulted by ESA in formulating their position on SOPA,” said Nvidia’s Bob Sherbin. “Our position is this: we oppose piracy, as it hurts our game-developer partners. However, we do not support SOPA. We don’t believe it is the right solution to the problem. We remain committed to working to address this problem in a constructive and fair manner.

Nvidia is a member of the ESA like Nintendo and Sony, but unlike them, clarified their position and noted that ESA’s support of the bill was done without their input. However, like Nintendo and Sony, by default they’re proxy supporters because of the ESA.

*Source: Nvidia

Yesterday, in response to a concerned gamer over SOPA, a SEGA customer support rep advised to perform a “hard reset on the device” or uninstall and reinstall the app.

Obviously, the reply was out of context and simply bizarre. After the e-mail made its rounds around the internet, SEGA answered with a light-hearted and apologetic video that can be seen below.

*Source: SegaAmerica

Headline RePLAY – 1.11.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Everquest II sees a free-to-play 300% player jump, Sony isn’t going to unveil a new console at E3 and Riot Games stands against SOPA.

The free-to-play model (F2P) is the new trend for MMOs, and Everquest II’s transition is another case of how it can exponentially spur player growth.

Gamasutra reports that Everquest II has seen a 300% increase in new player registrations since the game switched to F2P in early December. Everquest II also experienced a 40% increase in daily logins and a 200% rise of in-game item sales.

This isn’t the first F2P rodeo Sony Online Entertainment has been to either: DC Universe Online attracted one million new users in a week.

*Source: Gamasutra

Rumors and analysis of a new generation of consoles were aplenty late last year, but today Sony is putting to rest one such rumor: there isn’t going to be any announcement about a new console at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo.

At a roundtable with reporters during the Consumer Electronics Show, Sony’s Kaz Hirai was asked about a statement attributed to the head of Sony’s videogame division, Andrew House, that there wouldn’t be an announcement of a PlayStation 4 at E3.

“Andy [House] is absolutely right in that we are not making any announcements at E3,” said Hirai. “I’ve always said a 10-year life cycle for PS3, and there is no reason to go away from that.”

*Source: Wall Street Journal

Riot Games, the brains behind League of Legends, has released a statement challenging the U.S. House bill “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and the Senate’s “Protect IP Act” (PIPA).

The studio observes that SOPA/PIPA “goes far beyond addressing piracy” and the proposed legislation “threatens any website that features user-generated content.” Riot Games then proceeded to lay out how it would impact League of Legends players and the means to voice opposition to the bills.

*Source: Riot Games

Headline RePLAY – 1.3.11

Today on Headline RePLAY: the ESA explains its support for SOPA, the 3DS makes a rebound and rumor has it that Nintendo’s Wii U is also an e-reader!

 

Even though major publishers like Nintendo, Sony and Electronic Arts jumped ship last week from supporting the Stop Online Piracy act, the Entertainment Software Association stands firm with its backing for the bill and released a statement today explaining why:

“As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection, and do not believe the two are mutually exclusive. Rogue websites – those singularly devoted to profiting from their blatant illegal piracy – restrict demand for legitimate video game products and services, thereby costing jobs. Our industry needs effective remedies to address this specific problem, and we support the House and Senate proposals to achieve this objective. We are mindful of concerns raised about a negative impact on innovation. We look forward to working with the House and Senate, and all interested parties, to find the right balance and define useful remedies to combat willful wrongdoers that do not impede lawful product and business model innovation.”

Additionally, the ESA is aware of objections against SOPA, and responded:

“We are mindful of concerns raised about a negative impact on innovation. We look forward to working with the House and Senate, and all interested parties, to find the right balance and define useful remedies to combat willful wrongdoers that do not impede lawful product and business model innovation.”

The ESA is a video game trade group that is responsible for organizing the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo and its defense of video games as protected speech in the U.S. Supreme Court.  A lot of major publishers are members of the ESA, and therefore, despite their withdrawal from SOPA, are still supporting the bill by proxy.

SOPA’s critics assert that SOPA authorizes content owners to effectively shut down internet websites on the basis of copyright infringement, which includes:

·         Mods

·         “Let’s Play” videos

·         Video replays

·         Video reviews and commentary

·         Unofficial game guides

·         The taking, hosting, and sharing of screenshots, artistic or otherwise

·         Image forums (Reddit, 4chan)

*Source: Kotaku

Nintendo sure knows how to make a miraculous comeback. After dismal sales numbers, a major price cut in less than six months, and anxious investors— Nintendo is celebrating the new year with news that that the 3DS crossed over the 4 million units mark.  

According to Nintendo, the 3DS sold more than the Wii did in its first nine months. No doubt the sales jump was attributed to the massive price cut and the release of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7.

Needless to say, predictions of the 3DS’s death were highly exaggerated.

*Source: BusinessWire

Nintendo’s Wii U was met with a lot of comparisons to tablet PCs— and if this rumor of it being an e-reader is true, it will be a dead-on contrast.

According to Forget the Box, Nintendo is planning on making the Wii U into a Kindle or Nook equivalent with the ability to download or stream books, magazines, newspapers or other publications.

But to lend some credence to the rumor, Forget the Box adds that Nintendo is looking into making electronic strategy guides and instruction booklets available for download too.

Considering what we’ve seen of the Wii U, the rumor sounds plausible. However, it is just a rumor and should be taken with a grain of salt.

*Source:  Forget the Box via Game Informer