Sunday Supplement – 20th November

Comic courtesy of Fat Gamers.

Germans want to ban everything under the sun

The Germans want to ban ‘killing games’. I assume they mean games like GTA. Apart from the term ‘killing game’ being a little ridiculous, it shows how little people who criticise games actually know about them. From day one, when we were destroying wave after wave of relentless aliens in Space Invaders, gamers have been killing things. Seems like when there’s some blood and an Uzi involved, it all gets a bit messy.

But there’s something a little more disturbing about this particular move from the German government. This is a quote that should send shockwaves through the rest of Europe and those who champion the availability of adult games for adults and free expression. Speaking to Der Spiegel magazine, Andreas Scheuer of the Christian Social Union said that “killing games” have “no place in Germany’s bedrooms.”

What is being proposed is a complete ban on adult games in Germany. Can you imagine a similar ban being proposed for films or books? It wouldn’t happen. This is a serious proposition. If it goes through, this legislation would take affect in under two years.

As I’ve always said and believed, the problem here (although make no mistake, problems are being made by irresponsible developers – just look at Postal) is with publishers, the media and parents. Publishers market adult games to teenagers, games mags carry reviews of games that are not suitable for their readership and parents buy games from retailers with the intention to give them to their children – many adults simply refuse to believe that a game could be unsuitable for a child. Eliminate these problems, and you eliminate others. The answer to society’s ills is not to ban adult creative expression through games. With any luck, common sense will prevail and this proposed legislation will be thrown out.

Yeah, right… now I’m convinced

This week, Microsoft VP Peter Moore said conspiracy theories over 360 shortages were rubbish. Speaking to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Moore said: “I’ve seen all of the conspiracy theories. Somewhere in Roswell, New Mexico, we have a hangar where we’re stockpiling it, creating false shortages. No… It’s ridiculous. We are trying to get as many units to retail as we possibly can.”

Moore suggested that retail has over-egged the situation, taking on way too many pre-orders than they should have. That’s cute. As I’ve said before, no one from Microsoft has offered an explanation for the shortage. And I don’t buy the whole global launch thing. If it’s obvious, as a company, you haven’t the capacity to fulfil pre-orders for a global launch, don’t do it. I agree with Moore when he says global launches are the way to go, but I don’t think ambition should get in the way of customer satisfaction. A Christmas global next-generation console launch should be something to celebrate. I wonder if it might turn ugly.

The future’s bright… the future’s Steam

Although it might not have the same gravitas as a next-generation console spec announcement, or the widespread reach of a hot new AAA game trailer, the news that Valve will distribute Introversion’s strategy PC game Darwinia over their download service Steam will go down in gaming history as one of the most important ever.

As readers of PC Gamer will know, the world of Darwinia was under threat of being dumped into the vast sea of failed cult games. The game has been lauded by critics, and played intensely by a loyal core of hardcore fans, but economically it wasn’t doing the business. Valve should be applauded for saving the innovative title. The future of Darwinia has been secured.

But the move shoves two fingers up at the doomsday bringers who believe innovation no longer has a place in the modern games industry. If Valve, a financially driven company just like any other, can see money in a game like Darwinia through online distribution, why won’t others? Perhaps online distribution will allow more innovative games, the kind you don’t see on the shelves of game shops, to make money and find an audience they would never have had access to five years ago. Broadband has become so prevalent over the last few years, that whole games can be downloaded in minutes. The death of innovation? Maybe we’re witnessing the birth.

This week on Pro-G

We’ve reviewed a number of games on the site this week, but just in case you haven’t been paying close enough attention, here’s a rundown of what we’ve covered.

The Movies (PC)

Civilization IV (PC)

Cold War (PC and Xbox)

Crash Tag Team Racing (PS2, Xbox and Cube)

GUN (PC, PS2, Xbox and Cube)

LMA Manager 2006 (PS2 and Xbox)

This week’s new releases

Well, the next generation of gaming is nearly upon us in the UK (less than two weeks to wait now) but that hasn’t stopped publishers from supporting current machines with a whole host of new releases. In fact, this week saw so many good releases that it’s understandable why so many people seem disinterested in the next-generation.

The biggest release is undoubtedly Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie. If early reviews are to be believed the game takes the movie licensed videogame to new heights and tied in with the hype surrounding the movie, huge sales should be a certainty. EA’s duo of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and From Russia With Love should also sell plenty of copies. While Bond’s latest videogame outing seems a little rough around the edges, the console version of Battlefield looks to have done a great job at capturing what made the PC games so great.

It’s Sony who has gone crazy though, releasing five games across their two platforms. On PlayStation 2 Ratchet and Sly Racoon make a return, and Namco’s Soul Calibur 3 comes to Europe via Sony. PSP owners can choose from the much anticipated Pursuit Force and the handheld version of World Rally Championship.

First-person shooter fans have a lot to be happy about as well, with Half-Life 2 finally hitting the Xbox and Call of Duty 2: Big Red One giving current-gen platforms another dose of WWII action. The only real dud appears to be Sega’s Shadow the Hedgehog. 3D sonic titles haven’t really lived up to their potential and Shadow takes the series in a very bizarre direction. Thankfully, Sonic Rush on the DS will help you forget about Shadow, and bolsters and increasingly impressive DS line-up.

• Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (PS2 and Xbox)
• Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (PS2, Xbox and Cube)
• From Russia With Love (PS2, Xbox and Cube)
• Half-Life 2 (Xbox)
• LMA Manager 2006 (PS2 and Xbox)
• Mario Smash Football (Cube)
• Peter Jackson’s King Kong (PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC, GBA)
• Pokemon XD: Gale Of Darkness (Cube)
• Pursuit Force (PSP)
• Ratchet: Gladiator (PS2)
• Shadow the Hedgehog (PS2, Xbox and Cube)
• Sly Racoon 3: Honor Among Thieves (PS2)
• Sonic Rush (DS)
• Soul Calibur 3 (PS2)
• World Rally Championship (PSP)

Next week on Pro-G

While our 360 reviews are a few weeks off, we’ll be previewing 2K Games’ Amped 3 and Top Spin 2. There’ll also be the usual high number of reviews, with Age of Empires III, The Sims 2, The Matrix: Path of Neo, Shadow the Hedgehog, GTA: Liberty City Stories and more all going under the Pro-G microscope.