Joystiq

Good Old Games has added two more titles to its library. On one hand, we have a real-time strategy game, and on the other we have the game that popularized the term "ludicrous gibs." Something for everyone!

Rise of the Triad: Dark War ($5.99) - A violent first person shooter with a God mode that turns players into an actual god. No, really, you become seven feet tall and hurl balls of light that obliterate everything.

Seven Kingdoms 2 ($5.99) - It's humans versus Fryhtans in this 1999 real-time strategy game. Choose from twelve human civilizations or seven Fryhtan races and have at it. What's a Fryhtan? No idea.

Vivendi, the media company that owns Activision Blizzard, recently laid out its plans for 2009 and, unsurprisingly, World of Warcraft plays an important role. During a recent conference call, Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy stated that the company is "extremely confident and resilient despite the current market conditions." Reuters reports that 70% of Vivendi's revenues are generated by "phone, Internet, pay-TV and online video games subscriptions," which help shield the company from current economic troubles.

"We expect video games to continue to show a nice growth," said Levy. He added, in what is perhaps the greatest understatement ever recorded, "We started the year with 12 million subscribers for World of Warcraft, which is a good base." With Activision Blizzard pumping out sequels to its major franchises and promising one major Blizzard release per year, we'd say Vivendi's gaming front is on fairly solid footing.

Let's play a real-time strategy game: To play this one, all you need is a capable device with an internet connection. If you're reading this right now, you're off to a good start. Your next task is to read, in real time, the giveaway rules below and enter for your chance to win a copy of Halo Wars. We'll be giving away one copy of the game each day through Wednesday, so we suggest you come up with an appropriate strategy. Since entering every day gives you the best odds of winning, we'd go with that one. Entering only once? That's a bad strategy.

To enter:

• Leave a comment naming your favorite RTS maneuver (real or imagined); example: "Grunt Rush"
  
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec)
  
• Limit 1 entry per person
  
• This entry period ends at 2:59 pm ET on Tuesday, March 3. We'll randomly select 1 winner at that time to receive one copy of Halo Wars (ARV: $59.99).
  
• For a list of complete rules, click here

GI.biz reports that Eidos has posted financial results for the six-month period ending December 2008, and things are looking up for the publisher. Revenues for the period were up a full 26% at £80.3 million, up from £63.4 million during the same period in 2007. The cut to the publisher's losses was even more dramatic, down to just £1 million compared to £81.4 million in 2007. Eidos also managed to lower its debt from £5.7 million to £3.2 million.

The uptick in revenues is largely the doing of Lady Croft and her recent Underworld adventures, which sold 2.6 million copies (with 1.5 million sold through to consumers). Eidos noted that Tomb Raider: Underworld has outsold both Legend and Anniversary, though the company reiterated that sales were still lower than expected.

This has got to be good news to Square Enix, which recently crammed more Eidos stock into its portfolio and is gunning to acquire the publisher. It has to be even better news for the growing number of stockholders that support the acquisition.

A recent survey conducted by YouGov for the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) revealed that most UK citizens want an independent body to issue game ratings. GI.biz reports that a majority of those surveyed also said that they would prefer to see games use the same rating standard as movies. The BBFC hopes to use this survey as leverage in its bid to become the UK's primary game ratings body. Currently, the BBFC only rates games with a certain level of mature content, though that may change thanks to last year's Byron Review.

The BBFC competes with Europe's PEGI ratings, which already appear on UK game releases. The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) argues that the PEGI system is superior to the BBFC. Said ELSPA director general Mike Rawlinson, "Gamers no longer just play with their mates but play online, and we need a system that reflects this situation and protects their interests," adding that the PEGI system is the "right solution for child safety." Rawlinson further states that ELSPA will be promoting the PEGI system with a "multi million pound campaign" designed to get the word out to UK parents. Finally, he says that ELSPA has conducted its own research with YouGov that supports its argument.

The irony of all this, of course, is that this fight is being waged to make ratings less confusing.

You may have noticed -- but probably not -- that Sega's Project Ringo teaser site was updated earlier this week, coinciding with the February 24 date revealed earlier this month. What do we get for nearly two weeks of waiting in breath-filled non-anticipation? Not much. All we get is another ambiguous flash animation with equations, apples, and the silhouette of an unknown character (which seems a bit Sonic Team-esque to us).

The animation ends with the hilariously translated question, "What's mean 247?" and notes that the next tidbit will be revealed on March 12. What is Project Ringo? We speculated that it might be a new game from Yuji Naka's Prope studio or perhaps an iPhone game. Whatever it is, we have a couple of weeks to ponder or, as the case may be, remain completely uninterested.

Check out the teaser video after the break.

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The Consumerist reports that an Xbox Live user identified only as "Teresa" was supposedly banned from Xbox Live for identifying herself as a lesbian. Teresa said that she identified her sexual orientation in her profile, which resulted in harassment from other players on Xbox Live. She stated that even after she left such Xbox Live sessions, users would follow her into other games and tell others to report her "because they didn't want to see that crap or their kids to see that crap."

Teresa says that her account was later suspended because other gamers found her profile "offensive." Microsoft has informed Joystiq that it hopes Teresa will come forward, so that the company can investigate the matter directly.

In a statement to Joystiq, Microsoft noted that users may not "create a gamertag or use text in other profile fields that include comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate or insinuate content of a potentially sexual nature. Profiles that do are asked to change the language and suspended until changes are made." The company also stated that it does not allow Gamertags or profiles to identify any form of sexual orientation, though it is allowed in voice chat "where context is more easily explained to all players involved." Finally, Microsoft stated that harassment is "not condoned" and "taken very seriously."

Find the full statement after the break.

[Update: Microsoft's Stephen Toulouse -- an XBL team member -- has made a post on his personal blog regarding the situation and confirming that policy changes are being explored. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has also weighed in on the story, mentioning it is working with Toulouse with regards to Live -- and SCEA on its Home policies.]

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Imagine, if you will, that you have entered a library. Imagine further that a librarian approaches and, upon meeting you, asks, "Would you like to play Rock Band?" Would you think that this librarian was A) the greatest librarian in the history of librarians or B) wasting taxpayer money? If you chose B, you appear to agree with Omaha, Nebraska's Action 3 News, which recently filed a report about a group of local librarians using state funds to purchase Rock Band for its gaming workshops. Worse still, the librarians even had the audacity to film themselves assembling and playing the game -- during work hours -- and then uploaded the results to YouTube.

Indeed, the offense was so egregious that Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley launched an investigation into the matter, the results of which will be looked over by a group appointed by Governor Dave Heineman. To think that a library would purchase video games in order to attract more young people -- something many libraries are starting to do -- and then promote it via YouTube, where plenty of young people are likely to see it, boggles the mind. It's practically unconscionable.

Check out the incriminating YouTube video after the break (which also includes a little DDR action).

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Speaking at an analyst meeting in New York today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did not offer any new cost cutting measures beyond the company's plans to lay off 5000 employees. Said Ballmer, "I don't think it makes sense for us to come back and say, 'Could we take out another $2 billion in costs?'" Instead, Ballmer stated that the company plans to increase revenues by pushing Windows 7 for netbooks (low cost, low spec laptops). The lack of new cost cutting measures resulted in Microsoft shares falling to an 11-year low, according to Reuters.

By offering a low-end version of Windows 7 for netbooks, Microsoft hopes that many users will opt to upgrade to a more powerful version of the operating system. The catch is that Microsoft plans to 'encourage' users to upgrade by limiting the functionality of the stripped down version. One example of this given by Ballmer: Restricting the number of programs that can be opened simultaneously.

How many programs? We don't know, but we imagine plenty of people will be mighty pissed when that damned paperclip pops up and asks them to upgrade.

Update: Reader Duke points out that our buddies at Engadget posted a breakdown of Windows 7 versions earlier this month. The basic version, Windows 7 Starter, will allow only three applications to run concurrently.

Well, this is awkward. David Sirlin, a major designer behind Super Street Fighter II HD Remix (and the awesome Super Puzzle Fighter II HD Remix) is calling out Street Fighter IV. More specifically, he's calling out reviewers who call the game accessible to casual gamers. Sirlin points out a number of complicated commands used in the game as well as a host of very technical maneuvers that only dedicated Street Fighter players can pull off.

"Qcf x 2 +PPP all the time, extra button presses to throw, extra button presses to roman cancel, and many, many extremely difficult link combos work in concert to create that impenetrable wall of execution between you and the actual game," writes Sirlin. Throughout the lengthy piece, Sirlin notes that several things were added to Street Fighter IV that were unnecessary and only serve to make the game more complex. The end result, according to Sirlin: Playing the game becomes more about mastering esoteric techniques than focusing on strategy. To be fair, Sirlin does say that there's no reason the game has to cater to a casual audience, but he finds it puzzling that so many reviews claim that it does.

What do you think? Is Street Fighter IV n00b-friendly? We've posted a poll after the break, give us your vote and tell us what you think in the comments.

[Via OXM]

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Don Mattrick, head of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, and Victor Lucas, creator and co-host of The Electric Playground will give a keynote address at GDC Canada this year. The keynote is entitled "The Evolution of the Canadian Game Industry: A Conversation with Don Mattrick" and will cover "the dynamic changes and growing influence of Canadian game development." As the title implies, Lucas will interview Mattrick on the topic of Canada's game industry.

Just a heads up, we're already working on a screenplay for Lucas/Mattrick, so don't go stealing it. Interview movies are hot right now.

Resident Evil 5's controls have been the topic of much debate. Some gamers despise the stop-and-shoot nature of the gameplay, while at least one other notes that the inhibiting controls promote the tension so important to the series. Capcom has even addressed the issue itself on its community blog, which makes the following news rather puzzling:

During Capcom's Q3 financial results conference call (PDF link), a questioner noted that the Resident Evil 5 demo had "very poor playability" and asked for the company's opinion on the matter. Capcom's response: "We would prefer not to comment, as we haven't received any such opinion." No, seriously, that was the response. Possible conclusions to be drawn: (1) Capcom wasn't expecting this question -- hence the rushed and inconsistent answer; (2) someone is being less than honest; or (3) it's time to get the suits internet access.

Valve has officially revealed the second new Scout weapon included in the upcoming Team Fortress 2 update. Called the Force-a-Nature, the double-barreled shotgun packs a wallop so big it will knock back any enemy it hits, even the Heavies. If fired in the air, it will also knock back the Scout himself, essentially giving him a third jump.

Don't get too worked up though, like most other unlockable weapons in the game, the gun comes with a caveat. The Force-a-Nature only has two shots -- makes sense, given it's a double-barreled shotgun and all -- and it reloads slowly.

Additionally, Valve has posted a poll asking players to choose which Scout update item should be released first: The Bonk energy drink, the Sandman bat or the Force-a-Nature? Cast your vote here. You'd better do it quickly because the update is expected to drop sometime today!

[Via Big Download]

Speaking to GI.biz, Chris Lewis, VP for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division in Europe, managed to put a positive spin on used game sales. Typically maligned by the industry for hurting sales of new games, Lewis noted that used games offer gamers the opportunity to play games they might not ordinarily play. According to Lewis, used games get "more people touching, playing, experiencing a game," which he believes is a good thing for the games industry.

Naturally, that doesn't stop Lewis from suggesting that the promise of premium DLC might be a good way to keep gamers from selling their games, though he reiterates his belief that used games are "a positive thing." Given GameStop COO J. Paul Raines' recent comments suggesting that most consumers sell their games to help pay for new ones, Lewis may be right.

Regarding games on Windows 7, Lewis notes that the upcoming OS will be "great for games." He adds, "It's all good news - it's even more robust, it's quicker relatively, and the early testing cycles are proving very promising overall." We hope that's true, though the "relatively" bit has us a little nervous.