Much like its unfortunate series of protagonists, the Grand Theft Auto series seems to be continually under fire. The latest parental interest group to put the game in its crosshairs is Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which commemorated Grand Theft Auto IV’s release yesterday with its own official statement decrying the game.

Noting that drunk driving claims nearly 13,500 lives each year, MADD said that it is “extremely disappointed” that the game lets users get virtually drunk and then get behind the wheel of an equally virtual automobile.

“Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke,” MADD said. “Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime, and it is also 100 percent preventable.”

MADD is asking the Entertainment Software Rating Board to bump Grand Theft Auto IV’s rating up to AO for Adults Only from M for Mature. The ESRB’s content descriptors for the game currently include “use of drugs and alcohol.” The parental group also said that it is asking the game’s “manufacturer” (presumably Take-Two Interactive) to consider stopping distribution out of a sense of social responsibility, or out of respect for those who’ve been hurt or killed by drunk drivers.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been asking top people at Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony about game demos for the downloadable games offered via Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare and PlayStation Network.

I can’t get the same answer twice.

Microsoft – yes, demos are a must
Nintendo — no, demos are not required
Sony – sometimes demos are good, sometimes bad.

Keep reading to find out why they feel differently.

From my interview with him about Xbox Live Arcade:

“[Trial demos for XBLA games] came from the casual games industry. The thing is that Arcade has an identity. It is about pick-up-and-play games. The trial experience helps drive that pick-up-and-play nature. You have to think about how to get consumers to taste it. And the other thing is that it provides a great marketing tool. We’ve talked to consumers, and trial is one of the big drivers of purchase intent. So it gets smaller-budget games that doesn’t have a big marketing campaign– this is their marketing. We’re going to do a great job of getting the trial into people’s hands, and then the game can help sell itself.”

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In November, SouthPeak and Reality Pump confirmed retail listings that an extension to its action role-playing game Two Worlds was in the pipe. At that time, however, Two Worlds: The Temptation was billed merely as an expansion to the original Xbox 360 and PC title, with Reality Pump promising a bevy of new story points, environments, and combat mechanic tweaks.

It now appears those tweaks have outgrown the term “expansion.” SouthPeak today announced Two Worlds: The Temptation will, in fact, be a sequel proper to the original game, and will be available on the Xbox 360 and PC this fall. As initially stated, The Temptation will continue Two World’s storyline, with the game taking place in Easter Antaloor, which is in proximity to the Oswaroh and Drak’ar Desert.

Aside from what has already been said about The Temptation, SouthPeak provided little new information about the upcoming sequel. The publisher did make several promises, however, saying the missions will be more involved, voice-overs and animations will be improved, horseback riding has been revamped, combat mechanics have been completely reworked, and the game’s engine has been completely replaced.

Apparently, ‘Imagination Is The Only Escape’ will never see life on the shelves in North America. Nintendo has confirmed that the title will not be released in the states. However, the game will more than likely see some life in Europe and Asia. I’m sure this decision was made because things tend to become instantly controversial in the United States. I’m personally disappointed with the decision, considering the fact that I am strongly against most forms of censorship. I certainly believe that the Nazis were following some terrible and horrific ideas, but that doesn’t mean it never happened. I personally think a game like this could actually teach children about real history, not the sugar coated version they get in public schools.

Last month, when a 21-year-old British video game developer named Luc Bernard posted a description on his blog of a Holocaust-themed game he is writing that describes how the Nazis tortured children, the reaction was swift and visceral.

“Disgusting concept. Some people have no shame,” wrote one video game blog reader. Another called it “pretty creepy.”

The game, called Imagination Is the Only Escape, apparently will not be distributed within the United States. It casts players in the role of a young boy in eastern France during the German occupation who seeks escape from real-life horror through a fantasy world.

Via NY Times

Monday Update From Binge Gamer:

…However, the game’s publisher, Alten8, has come out today and said that the game has not been blocked by Nintendo. In fact, according to a spokesperson from Alter8, the publisher has not even spoken with Nintendo about the game.

It looks like the New York Times may have made a mistake with some of the story. I guess we will find out in the future. It wouldn’t be the first time that mainstream media made a mistake with gaming news.

Via http://news.filefront.com/

One of the popular reasons given for sometimes-sluggish game sales on the PC is piracy. If people can get the game for free, why would they pay for it? Go to any popular torrent site and it will likely have many more games than your local gaming store. The situation led the community manager for Infinity Ward to recently complain about the number of people playing Call of Duty 4 online versus the number of copies the game has sold for the PC. Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock, has a much different point of view: the pirates don’t matter.

“So here is the deal: When you develop for a market, you don’t go by the user base. You go by the potential customer base.  That’s what most software companies do. They base what they want to create on the size of the market they’re developing for,” Wardell writes on his blog. “But not PC game developers.”

His approach is not to think only about the “cool” games, but to make sure what the company does create can be profitable. What good is spending years on a top-tier game that gets all the buzz, is on all the magazine covers, but that very few people have the hardware to run? Furthermore, the people who have spent that much on their PCs know where to find the game for free if they like. It’s a small user base, with a smaller customer base.

The issue of these “cool” games seems to frustrate Wardell. “So even though Galactic Civilizations II sold 300,000 copies making [eight] digits in revenue on a budget of less than $1 million, it’s still largely off the radar. I practically have to agree to mow editors’ lawns to get coverage… [Sins of a Solar Empire] has already sold about 200,000 copies in the first month of release. It’s the highest-rated PC game of 2008 and probably the best-selling 2008 PC title. Neither of these titles have CD copy protection.”

So why aren’t these games, which, combined, have sold half a million units on a small budget, getting more attention? Because they’re not aimed at some nebulous idea of the “hardcore gamer.” This is a market that may exist in the minds of people writing about games, and it may describe those who buy gaming magazines, but such gamers are certainly not a force at retail. “Heck, how much buzz does The Sims get in terms of editorial when compared to its popularity?” Wardell asks. “Those things just aren’t that cool to the hardcore gaming crowd that everything seems geared toward despite the fact that they’re not the ones buying most of the games.”

The way to make money in the world of PC gaming, according to Wardell, is to make sure many systems can play your games, while continuing to make them attractive. Find a market where people want to buy and support the games, and don’t go by what the magazines and the blogs seem to think are the big name titles. Don’t let people who aren’t your audience control the titles you make, and ignore piracy. This is much like Trent Reznor’s strategy, although the execution is different. Instead of worrying about pirates, just leave the content out in the open. The market Reznor plays to will still buy the music; he’s simply stopped worrying about the pirates. He came to the same conclusion: they weren’t customers, they might never be customers, so spending money to try to stop them serves no purpose.

“The reason why we don’t put copy protection on our games isn’t because we’re nice guys. We do it because the people who actually buy games don’t like to mess with it. Our customers make the rules, not the pirates. Pirates don’t count,” Wardell argues. “When Sins popped up as the #1 best selling game at retail a couple weeks ago, a game that has no copy protect whatsoever, that should tell you that piracy is not the primary issue.”