British Defense Secretary Livid Over Medal Of Honor

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The controversy over the inclusion of the Taliban in Medal of Honor continues, as British Defense Secretary Liam Fox has issued a statement critical of the game. He was apparently most upset by a video showing the Taliban forces fighting in Helmand province, where British and soliders from other countries part of the International Security Assistance Force are indeed engaged with the Taliban.

“I am disgusted and angry,” Fox initially said. “It’s hard to believe any citizen of our country would wish to buy such a thoroughly un-British game. I would urge retailers to show their support for our armed forces and ban this tasteless product.”

EA issued this resposne to the complaint: “Multiplayer combat is a long-standing, common and popular feature of videogames. In multi-player, teams assume the identities of combatants on both sides of the conflict. Many popular videogames allow players to assume the identity of enemies including Nazis and terrorists. In the multi-player levels of Medal of Honor, teams will assume the identity of both U.S. forces and the Taliban.

Source: BBC

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Best Selling U.K. Game Ever

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Chart Track today revealed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the best selling game of all time in the U.K. The game surpassed the DS title Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training in 41 weeks, or roughly 10 months.

Chart-Track noted that Modern Warfare 2 spent only 3 weeks of the past 41 outside of the relevant software top 10. Modern Warfare 2 has sold over 20 million units globaly and has sold millions of multiplayer map packs.

Halo: Reach Ad Campaign Biggest In Series History

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The advertising campaign for Halo: Reach is just kicking off and it will be impressive. One example will be a website through which users can manipulate a real-life robot in a San Francisco warehouse to build a laser monument for Noble Team.

Expect to see ads that involve less in-game action and more emotion, like the Believe piece for Halo 3 and We Are ODST for Halo 3: ODST. “You don’t have to know anything before going into it,” said Taylor Smith, director of global marketing communications for Xbox. “We’re trying to tell the story in broad strokes and universal themes that people know all around the world. And get our core fans even doubly excited.”

“We’re trying to get people to connect back to their lives, not computer graphics or something overly sci-fi,” he said. “Live action is a way to capture that.”

Other promotions include Pepsi brand integration, with 300 Mountain Dew Bottles and 30 million bags of Doritos getting Halo packaging and a sweepstakes. There will also be a marketing partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“As a gaming franchise we have the luxury that people want to come to us,” Mr. Taylor said. “But we also need to be out there in pop culture: That’s how Pepsi fits in and broadcast fits in.

The mutliplayer beta was also launched to promote the game, attracting 2.7 million players. “We went out earlier in the cycle with the intention of driving volume to test the beta before the game even came out,” said Michael Stout, global product manager for Xbox.

And even as Bungie preares to launch a whole new franchise separate from Microsoft, don’t expect Halo to end with this. “I think it’s safe to say we’re not done with Halo,” added Stout.

Source: Ad Age {link no longer active}

Zynga Destroys Real Armored Car For Mafia Wars

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Zynga recently got some flak from the San Francisco City Attorney’s office for gluing fake $25,000 bills to sidewalks in San Francisco that directed people to the Mafia Wars: Las Vegas website. That was not the biggest marketing stunt for the game, however; not even close.

The social gaming company had a Ustream video of Snoop Dog pushing the button that blew up a fout-ton armored car outside of Las Vegas in celebration of the game’s release. In terms of live streamed events, the Zynga event was surpassed only by Ustream’s broadcast of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in June. Zynga also gave out 631,000 free virtual armored trucks to users in the game.

Source: Venture Beat {link no longer active}

Gran Turismo 5’s Kart Mode Draws Italy’s Ire

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Government officials from Siena, Italy are unhappy with the inclusion of Piazza del Campo in Gran Turismo 5’s kart mode. Specifically, they object to the use of Piazza’s distinctive architecture and the use of flags and colors of the 17 districts.

“You can not use images of Contrade, in this case the flags without authorization,” Anna Carli, CEO of the Consortium for the Protection of Palio di Siena. “Given the relevance of the game with no history and references to our party, in particular with the use of images of flags of the contrade, we would not otherwise authorize the use.”

This, ironically, serves as more promotion for the game and its features.  It also raises an interesting question about buildings and flags and whether they fall in the public domain or not.

Source: Corriere Fiorentino {link no longer active}

Apple Security Patent Could Detect Different Users

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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has received an application for Apple for “Systems and Methods for Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device.” It is designed to identify mobile users via their voice, picture or even heartbeat.

“The photograph, recording, or heartbeat can be compared, respectively, to a photograph, recording or heartbeat of authorized users of the electronic device to determine whether they match,” the application reads. “If they do not match, the current user can be detected as an unauthorized user.”

The normal users could be texted, called or emailed if there is unauthorized access. Information like a picture or the location of the thief could be sent to the user or the police.

Notably, the patent also could recognize if certain activities take place. This includes hacking, jailbreaking, unlocking, or removing a SIM card.

While some may be worried about the big brother aspects of this patent, it could also be used to detect certain users and change the default settings, like between family members for an iPad.

Source: Apple Insider

Motorstorm Apocalypse Makes A 3D Gaming Believer

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Recently, Sony’s Mick Hocking claimed Motorstorm Apocalypse would prove 3D gaming’s worth. For whatever it’s worth, prominent journalist Mike Fahey thinks this is totally correct.

“It’s not that the added depth of field gives you any advantage in the game,” writes Fahey. “It’s not the random humans flying across your hood as you perpetrate extreme failure to yield. It’s those sweet moments when everything comes together. When two cars screech around the corner and a motorcycle tries to squeeze between them, only to get turned into the creamy filling in the world’s worst-tasting Oreo. Or moments when you’ve gone from fourth or fifth place to first place, using the game’s track and techniques to the best of your ability, completely forgetting there are 3D glasses on your head.”

“So yes, I believe in 3D gaming, at least just this once. That’s got to be worth a brief woot,” he added.

Source: Kotaku