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Joystiq has uncovered some more details about the tragic story earlier this year of a 13 year old Chinese boy who leaped from a 24 story building, leaving behind notes which said he hoped to meet his friends from cyberspace in paradise.

According to reports the boy was addicted to Blizzard's World of Warcraft, and was re-enacting a scene from the game when he died. His parents have since launched a lawsuit against the developer, claiming the game caused his death. An "addiction researcher" representing the family has also announced he plans to file a class action suit against the games industry as a whole on behalf of parents whose children have been affected by online gaming addiction.

Youth’s Death Linked to Game - Parents suing Blizzard for World of Warcraft addiction

Related:
Boy falls 24 stories to his death, to join friends in Heaven
MMOG's to get Time Limit in China
China bans minors from online games
Beijing clinic treats online addicts
Discussion >>
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PC ModeratorA company in California has announced a new device that could act as an aid in curbing the rise in PC and gaming addiction by simply shutting the computer display off automatically after a certain amount of time has elapsed.

The PC Moderator plugs into the video port on most PC's, and works by shutting off the signal to the monitor when the time is up. To get around computer-savvy kids who can run rings around their parents when it comes to delving into PC settings, the Moderator comes with a good old-fashioned padlock and key to pretty much rule out the thing being disabled:

The PC Moderator contains its own battery-backed clock and electronic controls enclosed in a compact 18 gauge stainless-steel case. Since it operates virtually independent of the computer, it is compatible with all operating systems and applications (including stealth web monitoring software) and cannot be easily hacked or disabled.

California Firm Offers Chastity Belt for WoW Addicts via Kotaku

Related:
MMOG's to get Time Limit in China (31 Aug)
I want the house, the kids, oh and the avatars
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Real-life KatamariBoingboing has linked to a pretty decent rock version of the theme music from Katamari Damacy as performed by Corey vs Corey, a punk rock band from Texas.
It looks like the song first hit the web way back last year, but still worth a listen.

Rockin' cover of Katamari Damacy music

Related:
Games music, mash-ups and remixes
Doom 3 musical mash-up delights
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Peter Jackson's King Kong

Ubisoft have announced the game based on Peter Jackson's forthcoming (remake of) King Kong has been released worldwide.
The game is now available for the Xbox, PS2, GameCube, GBA, PC, Nintendo DS and PSP in what is one of Ubi's biggest-ever launches.
Later this month, King Kong will make yet another appearance as one of the launch titles for the Xbox 360.

Peter Jackson is said to have collaborated closely with Ubi in the creation of the game, so that it would serve as an authentic extension of the universe of the movie, which is due to hit cinemas worldwide on the 14th of December.

The game can be ordered for all platforms on Ubi.com, or if you want to try before you buy, the free PC demo is available over on the game's official site.

Related:
Peter Jackson's King Kong PC Demo Available (10 Oct)
Jackson's King Kong Confirmed for Xbox 360 Launch (18 Aug)
Peter Jackson's King Kong on IMDb
Jackson's King Kong, screenshots posted
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Leeroy Jenkins JeopardyThe American quiz show Jeopardy has given a mention to the now-legendary Leeroy Jenkins video from earlier this year, which saw Leeroy completely ruin a detailed strategy laid out by a group of WoW players over their mics by prematurely running into a room full of dragons screaming "LEEROY JENKINS!!".

A clip from the show can be seen here and the original Jenkins clip can be seen here - unfortunately, it appears none of the Jeopardy contestants were gamers and none of them knew the answer to the question.

Via Waxy.org

Related:
Lord of the WoW?
The Burning Crusade: WoW expansion.
Mom busts son on WoW forum
Patch Starts "Plague" in World of Warcraft (22 Sept)
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Darwinia Coming to Steam - 16.11.05  Email to a friend



DarwiniaThe critically-acclaimed though slightly underground Darwinia RTS from U.K. developers Introversion is due reach a huge new audience when it becomes a part of the games offered through Valve's Steam client.

Valve have announced the game is set to appear on the Steam games list on the 14th of December at a price of $19.95, while a pre-order option will be available from the beginning of December. As part of the deal with Valve, Introversion will stop offering the game for online purchase from their own site, and the free demo will also be taken offline temporarily.

Valve's Doug Lombardi revealed that the game is a favourite around the Valve offices, which undoubtedly helped to seal the deal:

After playing the game around the office, there didn't seem to be a reason why a game as great as Darwinia wasn't available to gamers worldwide,"
[...]
"When everyone gets their chance to play it, we think they'll be staying up all night protecting Darwinians just like us.

Darwinia Available On Steam December 14 - Darwinia Launch on Steam!

Related:
About Darwinia
Darwinia screenshots
Introversion.co.uk
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Guild Wars NikaFans of ArenaNet's subscription-free MMORPG Guild Wars have gotten the first details of what's to come in a major expansion to the game, due to be released next year.

In a feature in the latest issue of Play Magazine, the new class of Assassin has been revealed, along with a piece of concept art and a detailed narrative which offers the first glimpse into the background and abilities of the class:

Introducing Nika, your world-exclusive first look at Guild Wars' next major character profession: the Assassin. With Guild Wars surging past one million registered users in later '05, NCsoft and ArenaNet have a certified smash online hit. Set to debut in the game's massive 2006 expansion, the Assassin profession will add thrilling stealth and combat techniques to Guild Wars' dynamic online gameplay. Nika will represent the assassin in the games popular ongoing storyline and we have another exclusive for Guild Wars fans: the first official guild wars lore for Nika the Assassin, plucked from the pages of the next chapter.

CONFIRMED 1st New Class Information from Ch. 2: The Assassin

The expansion pack is currently known by it's working title of Guild Wars Chapter 2, and is due to continue the storyline of the game as well as offer new regions to explore, new missions, monsters, skills and quests.

Thanks, Flea

Related:
Official Guild Wars site
ArenaNet
Gamespot: Q&A on Guild Wars' Second Chapter (28 Sept)
Guild Wars Hits 1 Mil Accounts, Special Edition Announced (22 Sept)
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Revolution/PS3/X360

The next-gen console wars are going to ignite with the U.S. release of the Xbox 360 on the 22nd of this month, and Igniq member dek has posted some thoughts on how the battle will pan out:

The Past:
Will Xbox 360 fail in Japan? Hell yes, despite buying up licences with Japan oriented companies to release lots of games in the style that Japanese fans are familiar with they will still as buy the PS3. I do think Xbox will do marginally better, but it will never replace PS3 (or Nintendo) in the east.

Hardware/Tech stuff:
Ok excuse my ignorance I'm no longer an engineering major and really don't care about keeping up to date on stuff but here's what I remember. The PS2 chip Emotion was supposed to be revolutionary, but imfo it was just a chip that was the next rung in the ladder. The new PS3 chip is quite powerful no one questions that, but I've heard it is better at apps outside of games - I have no credible source and by no means am I saying PS3 will not be a game machine. Hell look at the PS2 as of late, despite having a CPU half as power as GC and 1/3 the Xbox it spits out incedible looking games like RE4 and God of War. Hardware wise, despite any non believable or overblown assumptions PS3 will be a beast - I still don't believe devs will take advantage of BluRay with anything more the "extras" but walk by faith.

Nintendo.... I still hate you, respect you slightly more but hate you none the less. You make a bold statement early on that you will be the top dog, then after the first Xbox fiasco on MTV you say how the big N will focus on innovation instead of the continuation of uninspirational genres. Well done, you've screwed yourself. What the hell is with the controller? Good move saying you can use a traditional style one (after saying how your want to be fresh and innovative). Brave move to focus on "innovation" and admitting Revolution to be the weaker in the race, despite all this big N will survive in the homeland.

Ah Xbox 360, MTV has not done you justice as the reviews are mixed on that 30 minute disaster. 360 focuses on top of the line current components - as such it should be easier to develop for then either of the other consoles. It never shyed away that it would be using current DVD format disk nor current CPUs when Sony revealed its master design. Honestly, I will probably go with this despite Sony and MS reps saying its basically ver 1.5 because I like the more mature games and with Halo it should survive. However, it will never be number 1.

Games:
I have to admit, the next gen consoles are capable of amazing things despite all the bashing and battles ahead. All of them are roughly on par with top of the line PCs that blow all ours away, taking into consideration how well designed and clear games became near the end of the current gens lives; what can't they do with these things? Considering how reallistic things have become they can only improve on them by increasing the amount of models and textures using shader engines, capping FPS at a solid unaltered rate (60), physics engines for all genres now, reallistic weather and lighting, and a few others I can't think of. The best example I can think of right now is this, each game has to look as good as FEAR, special effects need to be as overdone as possible with no noticeable drops in FPS, phsics need to be limited slightly so avatars do not fly around in unnatural positions, and devs have to throw in a few new features you only see a handful of times a year (or console life).

I bring these up because Xbox 360 launches in 10 days and to say its not a true next gen is foolish. All 3 are going to survive and you should buy based on the franchises you love. In 10 days we'll see what on my list has been taken into account and what isn't. Some of it will be praised, other parts hated, and some parts underappreciated by the masses.

Post your opinion

Related:
Nintendo "Futurna" Concept Images
Xbox 360 Windows MCE Demo
Rumour - Xbox 360 Featuring 40 and 80GB Hard Drives?
Epic VP Disses Revolution
Nintendo to attempt simultaneous launch
PlayStation 3 to Launch at $400?
Carmack Mulls "Super Edition DOOM 3" for PS3
Japan Poll Has Xbox 360 Still Trailing Behind PS3 (13 Sept)
Discussion >>
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Archives

Browse our archives:

Archive for this week:

19.11.05 Blizzard Face Lawsuit Over Boy's Death
18.11.05 New Lock Might Help Hopeless PC Gaming Addicts
17.11.05 Katamari Damacy Theme Covered by Punk Band
 Peter Jackson's King Kong Game Now Available
 WoW Star Leeroy Jenkins Mentioned on Jeopardy
16.11.05 Darwinia Coming to Steam
 New Assassin Class Revealed for Guild Wars
14.11.05 Next-Gen Console War Thoughts & Predictions
 





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