Despite the vote of no confidence the Entertainment Software Association received from former members, it’s apparently been busier than advertised. The advocate for US game publishers issued a press release today announcing California has settled a grievance over a 2005 video game law to the tune of $282,794.

The sum covers the ESA’s legal expenses incurred while representing the games industry over California’s 2005 video game law. A U.S. District Court Judge declared the law introduced by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unconstitutional in August, 2007.

According to GamePolitics ESA CEO Michael Gallagher offered a scathing commentary on the state’s use of funds to pursue frivolous personal agendas.

California deserves more from its legislators than pursuing flawed legislation. State employees are facing pay cuts. California’s services are being scaled back. And, anxiety is rising in Sacramento to find funds. Rather than tackling real problems affecting Californians, they chose to waste time, money and state resources. It is shameful that legislators pursued personal agendas in spite of the facts.

Caregivers are not well-served by court battles and legal fees. Rather, they would have been far better off if state officials worked together with our industry to raise awareness about video game ratings and the parental controls available on all new game consoles—both of which help ensure that the games children play are parent-approved.

California is in a state of crisis and is struggling to agree on a new budget. The California Progress Report political news blog is giving a daily blow by blow of the situation. A state budget has been MIA for 35 days now and California is in the hole to the tune of $15.2 billion. Unfortunately Republicans are opposed the proposed plan and Democrats are no more supportive siting concerns over reforms and sales tax increases.

According to guardian.co.uk, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order terminating 10,300 part-time jobs last week. The order also reduces the pay of 200,000 state employees to the federal minimum wage until a state budget is approved.

Amidst this financial crisis, Gov. Schwarzenegger has ordered an appeal on the Judge’s injunction through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Gallagher’s response:

It is unfortunate that the state is stubbornly pursuing an appeal that is likely to lead to even more court-awarded fees.

It looks like the ESA can expect another check in the future.

Last week Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker (R) introduced a bill proposing video game legislation for non age rated and adult games. At the time of the announcement the exact wording of the bill wasn’t known although news that the watchdog group the Parents Television Council fully supports it is alarming on its own.

With the text of bill S.3315 now available, it’s been officially confirmed that it’s a version of HB 5990, the Video Games Rating Enforcement Act, which is a bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) and Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT) in May.
Gamers can read for themselves what bill S.3315 would entail if it were to become a law. In short, the bill aims to:

…prohibit the distribution or sale of video games that do not have age-based content rating labels [and] prohibit the sale or rental of video games with adult content ratings to minors…

GamePolitics has kindly reminded gamers that both representatives Terry and Matheson are up for re-election. If you have a problem with the legislation in question, be sure to get to polls to let them know exactly where you stand.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) has introduced a bill proposing video game legislation. Although the full text of the bill isn’t available at this time, here’s an excerpt to give you the gist of what Wicker is proposing.

…prohibit the distribution or sale of video games that do not have age-based content rating labels [and] prohibit the sale or rental of video games with adult content ratings to minors..

According to GamePolitics an unconfirmed source has stated that Wicker’s bill is the Senate version of the Video Games Rating Enforcement Act which Reps. Jim Matheson (D-UT) and Lee Terry (R-KS) introduced to the House earlier this year.

Once again it seems that the US government has blatantly ignored that there is a self imposed video game ratings system already in place. The US needs parents to wake up and actually start “parenting” their children instead of having government officials do it for them.

via GamePolitics

A panel of Aussie politicians put on a stunning display of their ignorance where video games are concerned on ABC’s Q&A last night.

As audience members raised the issue of the recent Fallout 3 ban, the panel exhibited a great deal of confusion over video game ratings systems: they were completely unaware that Austrailia has one. Sen. Barnaby Joyce brought up “rape in games” going so far as to equate adult video games with snuff films. Only Senator Mark Arbib (pictured at the right) maintained an unbiased equilibrium rather than condemn video games without having played them.

A transcript from the video footage follows the break.
Read the full article »

More drama has unfolded in the Itagaki/Tecmo suit.

Supposedly, according to various sources (notably Kotaku) Itagaki was fired on June 18th and did not quit as he has alleged. According to Tecmo, he was fired just a few weeks after he announced he would be leaving and suing the company- so either way you look at it, he was out the door.

Itagaki is suing Tecmo over “special incentives” for Dead or Alive 4 that he was never paid. According to Tomonobu Itagaki, he was to receive 6.66% of profits generated from the sale of the game, but Tecmo president Yasuda says that those incentives were never approved. Itagaki was also supposed to receive his summer bonus and yearly incentives, which he left the company without being paid.

Now comes evidence presented by Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto, which is an actual tape recording of Yasuda calling Itagaki a “money grubber” and saying that Itagaki was owed incentive money after all – which was in reality approved by the Tecmo board despite his claims to the contrary.

Okamoto recorded the conversation with Yasuda because he was continually harassed by him, was called  names and and told he had no class. Great way to motivate your employees there Yasuda.

Itagaki has since decided to increase his claim from 148,000,000 yen to 164,000,095 yen thanks to that wonderful bit of evidence produced by Okamoto (providing it holds up in court, which Japanese courts may differ greatly from ours).

You know, Itagaki may rub people the wrong way sometimes, and while I personally detest people who blow their own horn constantly, it is no matter. If he is owed the money, just pay the guy already.

Thanks: CVG [via Kotaku]

*Sigh* Sit down, kids, and let me tell you what being in politics means. Basically, it means constantly trying to get laws passed and never bothering to check if these laws will actually change anything. What’s that, Billy? Yes, you still get paid for this. You get paid assloads of cash in fact. You want an example? Well, New York governor David Paterson recently signed a bill into law that will have the state exploring the negative impact of violent video games. Sure, that’s not so strange, but what is strange are the parts of the bill that “require new video game consoles to have parental lockout features by 2010, and mandate that games sold at retail disclose the ratings obtained from the gaming industry’s voluntary rating system.” Why, you’re right again, Billy. Those two things are already in place. But there’s more to this, as ESA Senior VP of Communications, Richard Taylor, says:

The state has ignored legal precedent, common sense and the wishes of many New Yorkers in enacting this unnecessary bill. This government intrusion will cost taxpayers money and impose unconstitutional mandates for activities and technologies that are already voluntarily in place. It also unfairly singles out the videogame industry over all other forms of media. One wonders where this overreach by government in New York will end. If New York lawmakers feel it is the role of government to convene a government commission on game content, they could next turn to other content such as books, theater and film.

Well, Billy, how about it? Are you okay with making a career out of wasting everyone’s time and money? Then you’ve got a bright future in politics, my boy.

Via GamePolitics

Like using your Gamecube or Classic Controller to play games on the Wii? Then you’d better be very nice to them since they may soon become scarce. Thanks to a patent lawsuit, Nintendo may be facing a ban on Gamecube, Wavebird, and Classic controllers (the Wii-mote and Nunchuk are excluded from the possible ban). A judge recently rejected a bid by the company to overturn a $21 million patent-infringment suit from Anascape Ltd. Stephany covered this yesterday but now we’ve learned that the judge also said he would stop the sale of those controllers. Right now, the ban is on hold while Nintendo appeals the case. To avoid the ban, they would have to either pay the full amount of set up funds to pay royalties. The patent in question was licensed by Sony in 2004, and Microsoft recently settled a similar lawsuit back in May.

My best guess though is that this isn’t something to worry about too much. With so many consoles already on the market, Nintendo will probably opt to just pay Anascape if they lose the appeal; they’re just hoping they won’t have to. Still, I may have to forgo my habit of chucking controllers across the room during a heated game of Pikmin.

Via Bloomberg

An article in The Times has raised concerns that a move towards regulation or censorship of video games in individual nations could force censorship on a global scale. The author points out that if enough of the video game consumer base regulates or bans violent or mature video games, the games industry may respond by cut down on or stop producing these games altogether.

If the US government decides to pass stricter rules regarding video games (which, when you get down to it, isn’t that far-fetched), their imposition would result in video game manufacturers avoiding “offensive” subject matter entirely. It would be passive censorship that would have a global impact, purely due to the fact that the US market is so large.

Personally I disagree with this theory. Even if regulation is legislated by a country’s government, that doesn’t mean there won’t be a market for the games that are under the ban. For example, due to the changes in the US version of CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher, I simply ordered the international version for my wife’s birthday. I’m not saying it’s an impossible scenario, but there will always be a market for mature rated games as long as adults are part of the consumer base.

People fear and lash out at what they don’t know or understand. The world is rapidly acclimating to video games and their use in everyday life. With the steady increase of adults of all ages being exposed to video games, it’s only a matter of time before they become as mainstream and excepted as other forms of entertainment such as books, film and music.

via The Times

Looks like all the hoopla surrounding Guy Somberg’s blog post about trouble brewing at Flagship Studios was not so far off after all, despite denials to the contrary and allegations of media sensationalism.

Reports started surfacing yesterday about lay-offs at Flagship Studios, and Flagships’s Community Manager, Taylor Balbi, has revealed that all Ping0 and Flagship Studios staff have been given pink slips after having been notified that on Saturday (today) the offices will officially close down.

Now, here comes the rumors and denials part. Korean distributor HanbitSoft, has released a statement regarding intellectual property control:

“It is unfortunate that Flagship turned down additional investments HanbitSoft offered to make that would have allowed it to keep its doors open.”

HanbitSoft hopes to independently continue development of Mythos, to which it owns the rights due to a loan agreement with Flagship, and Comerica owns the Hellgate: London rights through a similar loan agreement, and plans to continue Asian development of the MMO through HanbitSoft.

Rumors regarding selling the rights to Mythos and Hellgate: London to EA (the American publisher) or other houses are spinning the net, but HanbitSoft has made a move that has the former Flagship head-honchos up in arms.

Over on Gamasutra they are reporting that the fan site Hellgate Guru has translated a Korean news report stating that HanbitSoft, “…is taking full control over the Hellgate: London intellectual property from Flagship Studios,” and that they will not only continue to publish the game in the region, but will also use in-house staff to continue with the development.

Thus, Flagship has responded, calling the HanbitSoft’s comments in the Korean news report an “outright lie” and have asked legal counsel to pursue the matter. Flagship also went on to state that any attempt to take over the IP will be met with a “strong and swift response.”

“This story is an outright lie. We have no idea where they are getting their information from and have asked legal counsel to pursue the issue… We are mystified by Hanbitsoft’s conclusions and any attempt to take over the IP will be met with a strong and swift response.”

Now, with the lawyers stepping in on all sides, HanbitSoft’s US lawyers have issued a statement:

“(1) HanbitSoft is an exclusive licensee of both Hellgate and Mythos in Asia, with rights to sublicense the games; (2) in addition, HanbitSoft is a secured creditor who has been pledged the Mythos (but not the Hellgate) intellectual property as collateral for a loan; (3) Comerica, another secured lender, has been pledged the Hellgate intellectual property as its collateral for a loan; (4) Flagship Studios does not currently own the intellectual properties to either game, which are held in separate companies subject to the security interests of lenders, and Flagship Studios’ interest in those companies is also pledged to its lenders; (5) it is unfortunate that Flagship turned down additional investments HanbitSoft offered to make that would have allowed it to keep its doors open, but HanbitSoft hopes to work with Comerica and some of the team at Flagship to see if there is a way to continue to generate content to keep Hellgate online in Asia and to finish the development of Mythos.”]

To add even more fuel to the fire brewing in the Flagship corners of Seattle and San Fransisco, an unidentified source had told Kotaku that developers for both Hellgate and Mythos have a “hope that they will all have their jobs back at the end of next week at a brand new company.”

That statement (if true) could mean that Flagship has indeed been bought out by another company – or it is just a a former employee hoping and praying that they get their job back someway, somehow. We are not sure what is exactly going on at this point, other than the death of Flagship Studios as we knew it. It is the weekend, and I am sure more information regarding what really happened will surface sometime Monday when all the news outlets and offices are back in business after the two day break.

For more information on all of this, you can hit all of the following links below.

Via: Gamasutra, VoodooExtreme, Kotaku, Evil Avatar

E3.. once the premiere event of the video game season is now a shadow of its former self. While we’ve discussed this in the past and even lamented a bit about things long gone, Ron and Shawn choose this week to discuss the upcoming event and related coverage plans for the File-N-Forget Podcast and Gaming Today in general.

Readers and listeners should send suggestions for E3 coverage and possible developer questions to the podcast email. We’ll happily address them and if possible pose them to the guilty parties during the event and report back.

Once we move on from that topic the infamous Jack Thompson makes himself a topic of discussion again. In light of the recently released recommendations for his disbarment in Florida and then we move on to the “Jack Thompson” memorial Rant & Rave segment where Ron actually praises a Gamestop store, and Shawn laments the state of aussie censorship.

This weeks show is available by direct download here.

As always, you can get past episodes from our podcast page at http://podcast.filefront.com, and you can send your comments, questions, suggestions, or snarky comments to podcast@filefront.com.

File-N-Forget is also available on the iTunes Music Store.