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Playstation 2 incites African war- What's the cost of gaming?
"Has the video game industry dug up its very own blood diamond?
According to a report by activist site Toward Freedom, for the past decade the search for a rare metal necessary in the manufacturing of Sony's Playstation 2 game console has fueled a brutal conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At the center of the conflict is the unrefined metallic ore, coltan. After processing, coltan turns into a powder called tantalum, which is used extensively in a wealth of western electronic devices including cell phones, computers and, of course, game consoles.
Allegedly, the demand for coltan prompted Rwandan military groups and western mining companies to plunder hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the rare metal, often by forcing prisoners-of-war and even children to work in the country's coltan mines.
"Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms," said Ex-British Parliament Member Oona King.
So where's the connection to Sony? According to Toward Freedom, during the 2000 launch of the PS2, the electronics giant was having trouble meeting consumer demand. To pump out more units, Sony required a significant increase in the production of electric capacitors, which are primarily made with tantalum. This helped drive the world price of the powder from $49/pound to a whopping $275/pound, resulting in the frenzied scouring of the Congolese hills known for being ripe with coltan.
Sony has since sworn off using tantalum acquired from the Congo, claiming that current builds of the PS2, PSP and PS3 consoles are sourced from a variety of mines in several different countries.
But according to researcher David Barouski, they're hardly off the hook.
"SONY's PlayStation 2 launch...was a big part of the huge increase in demand for coltan that began in early 1999," he explained. "SONY and other companies like it, have the benefit of plausible deniability, because the coltan ore trades hands so many times from when it is mined to when SONY gets a processed product, that a company often has no idea where the original coltan ore came from, and frankly don't care to know. But statistical analysis shows it to be nearly inconceivable that SONY made all its PlayStations without using Congolese coltan."
Currently, the Playstation 2 is the best-selling video game console of all-time, having sold through over 140 million units. "
"Has the video game industry dug up its very own blood diamond? ... more -
Dragon Age: Origins in nuove immagini
Dopo il filmato dell’E3 2008, BioWare ha rilasciato alcune immagini per Dragon Age: Origins, nuovo gioco di ruolo slegato da qualsiasi licenza di Dungeon & Dragons o prodotti simili.
Di certo molti appassionati di GDR non vedono l’ora di mettere le mani su questo titolo, che viene dagli stessi creatori di giochi storici come Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights e Knights of the Old Republic.
Dragon Age: Origins debutterà su PC nel 2009, e approderà dopo qualche mese anche su Xbox 360 e PlayStation 3. Dopo il filmato dell’E3 2008, BioWare ha rilasciato alcune immagini per Dragon Age: Origins, nuovo gioco di ruolo slegato da qualsiasi... more -
Rumours on PSP Phone
Rumours have been floating around for a while about a patent Sony filled in July 2007 appearing to show a PSP Phone. Sony has not confirmed whether or not a phone-gaming device will come out anytime soon. Rumours have been floating around for a while about a patent Sony filled in July 2007 appearing to show a PSP Phone. Sony has not conf... more
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America's Army {CoMfOs} Clan
Video realizzato dal Generale {CoMfOs}Xatrox sul gioco America's Army
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Wii Spray
Wii Spray is a prototype which uses the Wii controller as a virtual spray can. German student Martin Lihs developed it as part of his final thesis at Bauhaus University and plans to launch a software which would allow players to videochat and work collaboratively on the same graffiti.
"The use of WiiSpray is similar of using a real spray can – but without the colour and the toxic smells. WiiSpray is based on Adobe Flash, a WiiFlashServer and the Nintendo Wii® device. With this techology and a computer supported technology it is possible to move wireless through the space. You don´t need to learn this device - just start spraying intuitively."
via Core77 http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/the_digital_wild_... Wii Spray is a prototype which uses the Wii controller as a virtual spray can. German student Martin Lihs developed it as part of his ... more -
GTA IV: Codacons Vs Niko Bellic
E' vecchio quanto l'informatica forse il dilemma sui giochi cosiddetti "diseducativi". All'inizio (primi anni '80) erano considerati anticamera del solipsismo, insomma del rincoglionimento. Poi facevano venire male agli occhi, rovinavano i televisori, incoraggiavano le assenze scolastiche, scatenavano attacchi epilettici nonchè si fissavano sulla retina se usati prima di dormire.
Poi con gli anni '90 sono arrivati i primi FPS (giochi in vero o finto 3d visti in prima persona), e si riaccende quindi la carica polemica verso titoli come Doom, Castle of Wolfenstein, e soprattutto Doom2, forse il titolo ancora più amato nel mondo. Titoli ovviamente carichi di violenza, ma ancora astratti, senza riferimenti al reale, dove si facevano a pezzi alieni, creature maligne, insomma il Bene contro il Male (a parte Wolfenstein dove ad essere uccisi erano i soldati nazisti, cosa che infatti scatenò ulteriori dibattiti).
Il primo videogame "cattivo" per pc che ricordo è stato Quarantine, gioco di guida dove potevi investire i pedoni (dettaglio che ovviamente diventò subito caratteristica pregnante delle sessioni di gioco), al quale seguì Carmageddon, vera pietra miliare della violenza gratuita digitale.
Era un periodo tutto sommato ancora ingenuo, piano piano il grado di violenza sarebbe salito, sarebbero entrati in gioco i titoloni horror e soprattutto quei successi basati sulla provocazione creata a tavolino come Rule of Rose, Bully, etc.. eppure già la critica era tutta concorde sul condannare il mondo dei videogames.
Il fatto è che il videogioco, come qualsiasi forma d'arte, non può non rispecchiare il mondo reale, del quale sono sublimazione, visione premonitrice, specchio. Se l'America si nutre di ghetti sterminati è inutile prendersela con GTA, che di fatto rappresenta una realtà che esiste e quindi vuole essere rappresentata. Possiamo proporre a un teenager per 10 ore al giorno speculazioni su Erba,Cogne,Garlasco,Perugia,Gravina, e poi davvero stupirci se avrà una percezione del mondo morbosa o deviante? Ma come, lo rincretiniamo tutto il giorno con rapporti da obitorio, crimonologia, dettagli cruenti, e poi lo incolpiamo se ha fantasie di violenza? Figuriamo quindi negli USA, dove il tasso di crimini, il numero di armi in circolazione, il disagio delle periferie sono realtà vissuta da moltissimi, sono cronaca del quotidiano.
Di certo è più facile incolpare GTA IV che l'intero way of life della società occidentale, ma sarebe come denunciare Coppola dell'esistenza della mafia. Eppure in Italia si cerca oggi di bloccare la diffusione di questo gioco "diseducativo", o almeno ci prova il Codacons con l'unico risultato di accrescere enormemente l'appeal di Niko Bellic & C. Proviamo per una volta a calarci davvero nell'animo di un teenager del 2008, e proviamo a capire il gusto che prova (e che provo anche io che non sono teenager da un pò). Indaghiamo meglio su una società che da decenni non riesce a seguire i propri figli, genitori assenti o incapaci, sul crearsi di zone d'ombra dove i media non hanno gli strumenti per entrare e ne apprendono l'esistenza tramite Youtube, sui nonni chiusi negli ospizi e considerati un peso anzichè un valido aiuto, i vicini che non si conoscono più, il lavoro fino a tardi per amor di carriera, l'isolazionismo dei centri commerciali dove non si salutano più clienti o commessi, i condòmini che si insultano per un panno steso, le coltellate per un parcheggio.
Cosa volete che vedano questi ragazzi..Heidi? Il Libro Cuore? E' naturale che il feeling che esprimono rifletta tutto questo, e non è colpa di un gioco, di un film o un cartone animato. Non è bello e non è simpatico, ma non è Niko Bellic che sta minando la nostra società: il detonatore l'abbiamo schiacciato tutti insieme senza riflettere troppo sul futuro e ora come al solito cerchiamo qualcuno o qualcosa da incolpare.
E' vecchio quanto l'informatica forse il dilemma sui giochi cosiddetti "diseducativi". All'inizio (primi anni '80) erano considerati a... more -
LEGO Indiana Jones: Le avventure originali – il videogioco di Activision
Beh, veramente fichissimo, non è che ci sia molto altro da dire...
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Violent video games make you go psycho!
The British Psychological Society say ''simple effects analyses showed that those in the maximum blood and medium blood conditions had a significant increase in hostility and physiological arousal, while those in the low blood and no blood conditions did not have such an increase in arousal and hostility. Further analyses indicated that those in the maximum and medium blood conditions used the character's weapon significantly more often than those in the low and blood absent conditions.''
I'm no expert and who am I to argue with clinical psychologists but how many violent offenders have no interest in video games and what is the underlying reason why they commit their crimes. I wonder if there is a correlation between the violent non-video game users and those that do use them, because maybe that will lead to the uncovering of the real problem. The British Psychological Society say ''simple effects analyses showed that those in the maximum blood and medium blood conditions had... more -
Gay Gamers Promo
A snippet of a work in progress documentary centered around individuals who are both gay, and into gaming.
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Grand Theft Auto IV: A music aficionado's dream game
The new Grand Theft Auto game, which kids and adults have been waiting for for years, will feature the largest soundtrack of any videogame so far. GTA: San Andreas currently holds the record with 156, but IV will include over 200 songs! To reinforce the New-York-themed Liberty City, Rockstar got area DJs and celebrity personalities to host the city's "radio shows." DJ Green Lantern even produced a show with all-original music released just for the videogame. Other DJs include Francois "K" Kevorkian, Murphy's Law vocalist Jimmy Gestapo, and Ukranian superstar Ruslana hosting the Eastern European pop show. Most of the tracks on the soundtrack will be deep cuts and rarities as opposed to an all-hit soundtrack. This is mainly because many of the genres represented, such as Hardcore and Reggae, are underground genres. GTA IV also includes a feature where, if a player likes what they're listening to, they can tag the song for purchase later on Amazon (A first for videogames). The game is sure to be incredible and the music is too! Go Rockstar! The new Grand Theft Auto game, which kids and adults have been waiting for for years, will feature the largest soundtrack of any video... more
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Earthworm Jim - worming back to a screen near you
Earthworm Jim will be dodging cows and lava pits once again, after reports have been released claiming that Interplay are in the process of developing an original new version of the cult game, that will sit alongside a reversioned cartoon of the lovable worm.
No release date has been set for Earthworm Jim 4, and no formats have, as yet, been confirmed.
One thing Jim lovers can rest assured about, the original creator, Douglas TenNapel is to involved in the production of the title. Earthworm Jim will be dodging cows and lava pits once again, after reports have been released claiming that Interplay are in the proce... more -
U.S. Spies using videogames
In the wake of the intelligence bungles that propelled the United States into the Iraq war, it's no secret that the nation's spies have been working to improve the quality of their analysis. Now the top U.S. military intelligence agency has come up with a new tool for teaching recruits critical thinking skills: videogames.
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has just taken delivery of three PC-based games, developed by simulation studio Visual Purple under a $2.6 million contract between the DIA and defense contractor Concurrent Technologies. The goal is to quickly train the next generation of spies to analyze complex issues like Islamic fundamentalism.
Given a choice between a droning classroom lecture or a videogame, the best method for teaching Generation Y was obvious. "It is clear that our new workforce is very comfortable with this approach," says Bruce Bennett, chief of the analysis-training branch at the DIA's Joint Military Intelligence Training Center. In the wake of the intelligence bungles that propelled the United States into the Iraq war, it's no secret that the nation's spies hav... more -
Fable 2 GDC (Game developers Conference)
The Fable 2 Game Developers conference was held and the developers of the game fable released information and video of the updates to the much anticipated games release. Some of the updates were being able to play as a woman and the ability to play in cooperative mode. The Fable 2 Game Developers conference was held and the developers of the game fable released information and video of the updates to ... more
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Mario Paint gets Rick Roll'ed
Someone with a little ingenuity and a lot of time recreates an old hit.
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Subverting McDonald's with a videogame
Italian team of artists and programmers Molleindustria has created a free videogame which reveals the secrets behind tasty burgers...
"Making money in a corporation like McDonald's is not simple at all! Behind every sandwich there is a complex process you must learn to manage: from the creation of pastures to the slaughter, from the restaurant management to the branding. You'll discover all the dirty secrets that made us one of the biggest company of the world." Italian team of artists and programmers Molleindustria has created a free videogame which reveals the secrets behind tasty burgers... ... more -
No Tax for videogames creators
The EU has aprobed a Law that make the videogame creators save some money for create cultural and better videogames...Well at least on Europe...... The EU has aprobed a Law that make the videogame creators save some money for create cultural and better videogames...Well at least on... more
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WoW saves lives
Boy survives moose attack, thanks to WoW! haha
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Play Nintendo NES games on your DS
A new adapter allows you to play your old NES games (or Famicon games, whichever) on your nintendo DS lite...
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Wii Got Your Wedding Gift
Has gaming turned a corner and gone from relationship breaker to match maker? Fire up those web cams, limber up those typing fingers, and tell us how gaming has changed your lovelife and friendships. You might see yourself in our upcoming story on Current TV. Has gaming turned a corner and gone from relationship breaker to match maker? Fire up those web cams, limber up those typing fingers,... more
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Amazing Guitar Hero Video
My brain (and fingers) hurt just watching this.
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