On February 3, New York Times bestselling author of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx blends will be releasing his latest book Mortal Coils, an urban fantasy mixed with ancient mythology and published by Tor Books. This will be the book one of five for his epic new series.

Eric Nylund is best known as a writer and story consultant for Microsoft Game Studios ans was instrumental in developing the Halo franchise and for Epic with the Gears of War franchise. In the past, he has also worked with BioWare, and Ensemble Studios and is the author of three of the five Halo novels which sold over two million copies which are: Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: First Strike, and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. Together, his novels have sold over two million copies.

His upcoming projects, which should be of interest to gamers and graphic novel/comic fans alike are a mini-series called Battlestar Galactica: The Cylon War which is a prequel to television show due out in January 2009. Also, a graphic novel titled Halo: Genesis will be published in the spring of 2009, and will appear in the Limited Collector’s Edition of Halo Wars.

Storyline for Mortal Coils is listed after the jump.

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Cartoon Network is taking no chances with children’s safety in its upcoming MMO, Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall. The sign up process is Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) compliant requiring full parental disclosure and permission for all aspects of the game. Cartoon Network has also hired Crisp Thinking which uses a three pronged attack to head off harassment, cyberbullying, and predators. The first two methods are pretty standard, with profanity filtration and chat monitored for anything like addresses or phone numbers being passed ect. which raises flags for a live FusionFall monitor to check in on the situation. The third is very high tech and invasive.

Finally, Crisp even promises to provide what it calls the Engine for Relationship Analysis, which will work to analyze conversations and relationships over long periods of time, tracking behavioral patterns beyond single-session chatting. Using algorithms developed from millions of children’s IMs and communications from real-life predator cases, the ERA is programmed to detect “grooming” behavior to ensure children aren’t the target of a stalker’s long con.

If Relationship Analysis was applied to an adult MMO, I would ding it as a massive invasion of privacy. However since children are involved I’m all for it. I’ve explained Internet security to my oldest too many times only to have her “forget” to have any illusions that Crisp Thinking isn’t needed.

For screenshots and concept art for Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall, visit the media archives at FileFront.

Normally I don’t like to talk about JT because of my constant fear of him leaving a snarky comment on my post. This fear, keeps me awake at night, lying there in a cold sweat and just imagining the insane evil glint in his eyes. I am of course being silly, I am not afraid of him in the slightest, I just do not like giving him more Google fodder and adding to his notoriety.

However, since the judge presiding over Thompson in reference to the Florida bar trial has recommended that be found guilty of 27 counts of misconduct -that, my friends is something everyone should be aware of.

According to GamePolitics, Florida Judge Dava Tunis has recommended that JT be found guilty due to his involvement in video game-related cases, particularly Strickland v. Sony in which the attorney blamed Devin Moore’s obsession with GTA as his reason for killing two police officers and a police dispatcher. Not that he was just a bad person all around, but because the game drove him to it.

The charges issued by Tunis will be sent to the Florida Supreme Court by September 2nd, where the judges will make a ruling as well as possible disciplinary action. Tunis will also be presiding over the June 4th disciplinary hearing where possible sanctions against Thompson will be most likely be doled out.

The misconduct recommendations according to GP include:

• Knowingly making a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal
• Knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules of a tribunal
• Communicating the merits of the case with a judge before whom the proceeding is pending
• Using means that have no purpose other than to embarrass, delay or burden a third person
• Engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation
• Engaging in conduct in connection with the practice of law that is prejudicial to the administration of justice, including to knowingly or through callous indifference disparage or humiliate litigants or other lawyers
• Making statements that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge

Tunis also recommended that Thompson be found guilty on four out of five counts relating to his 2006 attempt to have Rockstar’s Bully declared a public nuisance in a case before Miami Judge Ronald Friedman. An additional two guilty counts stemmed from a non-video game matter.

I wonder what is going to be done about his constant harassment of innocent people? This should also be taken into account because you just don’t harass a woman on Mother’s Day and accuse her of birthing the anti-Christ.

Via: GamePolitics

For MTV’s Gamers Week, a small group of filmmakers called “Waverly Films” put together this short about a classic encounter between good and evil. This video shows what would happen in Link from The Legend of Zelda were squared off against a typical d-bag bully. I think you can guess how that turns out. It’s just another in a long list of reasons it’s probably not best to mess with a guy in a green elf costume with a sword. Worst case scenario: he’s a hero out to save a mystical land. Best case scenario: he’s clinically insane.

ZeniMax Media Inc. is expanding its reach globally with the opening of its new ZeniMax Asia office. The publishing headquarters will be publishing direct titles under the Bethesda Softworks brand throughout Asian territories.

“Establishing operations in Asia is very important to us as we continue to expand our presence in markets outside of North America,” said Robert Altman, CEO of ZeniMax Media Inc. “In addition to ZeniMax Europe Ltd., our direct relationships throughout Asia allow us to bring exciting titles like Fallout® 3 to gamers across the globe.”

ZeniMax Asia will be publishing Bethesda titles such as Fallout 3, Star Trek: Conquest and Star Trek: Legacy as well as games from other publishers. Current titles in the line up include Bully (PS2), Bully SE (Xbox 360), and Major League Baseball 2K8 (PS3/PS2/PSP/X360).

via Press Release

Rockstar’s Bully video game has been banned in Brazil as of Friday. Judge Flavio Rabello has ruled that the game can no longer be imported, sold, distributed or promoted on websites and in stores in the country. Retailers now have 30 days to comply with the ban.

“The aggravating factor is that everything in the game takes place inside a school,” Rio Grande do Sul state prosecutor Alcindo Bastos said. “That is not acceptable.” JPF Maggazine is the main distributor for the title in Brazil, but did not comment on the ban or indicate in any way yet whether it wants to appeal or not.

The request for a ban of the game, which lets players act out the life of a 15-year-old student, came from a local youth support center. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. spokesman Edward Nebb said the decision will “prevent Brazilian consumers from enjoying ‘Bully: Scholarship Edition,’ it will not have a material impact on the sales of this popular title.”

As in the UK ASA banning Kane & Lynch ads; isn’t it a bit late to be banning a title that was released October 2006?

via Afterdawn

Politicians have always been known to flip flop, try to pass foul laws, bow down to underhanded special interest groups, commit adultery with hookers, interns and Marilyn Monroe, and a whole host of other unscrupulous shenanigans since time began. However, with the success of the gaming industry causing a complete change in the world’s lifestyle and choices, comes new fuel for politicians to add to the ever growing firestorm of outcry over violence in video games.

GamePolitics has been tracking “the nexus of politics and video games” for over the past three years, and I must say they have done a bang up job of it. Today, while perusing their site, I came across a nice little poll they are conducting on who is the Biggest Political Hypocrite. The five listed below are the ones I pulled from their site, and GP felt that these five were the ones that stood out more than others of their ilk.

• Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (D): Mayor Menino led a 2006 movement to have ads for GTA: Vice City Stories removed from public transportation and got the local transit agency to commit to never again carrying an ad for an M-rated game. Now he is at the center of a legislative proposal that would equate violent games with pornography. In between attacks on video games, Menino hopes to lure game developers to set up shop in Boston.

• California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R): The man who signed California’s 2005 video game into law, and ordered the state to appeal a 2007 ruling by a U.S. District Court judge that the law was unconstitutional, is himself the star of many a violent movie. What’s more, he appears in character in several violent games based on the Terminator films.

• Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D): Gov. Sebelius threw her support behind an unsuccessful 2006 attempt to legislate video games. Earlier this year it was revealed that Gov. Sebelius’ son John created a Grand Theft Auto-like board game called Don’t Drop the Soap and marketed it from the taxpayer-funded Governor’s residence.

• New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D): During his 2006 election campaign Spitzer railed against video game content, saying, “Nothing under New York State law prohibits a fourteen-year old from walking into a video store and buying… a game like ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ which rewards a player for stealing cars and beating people up. Children can even simulate having sex with a prostitute…” As everyone now knows, it was the “sex with a prostitute” part that brought Spitzer himself down in 2008.

• British Labour MP Keith Vaz: Vaz got into the video game violence debate in 2004 when a 14-year-old constituent, Stefan Pakeerah, was brutally murdered. Vaz alleged that the controversial Rockstar title Manhunt inspired the crime. A Scotland Yard investigation, however, established no such link. Vaz would go on to criticize Rockstar’s Bully and Manhunt 2 games. While he has attacked the make-believe crime of video games, Vaz, as documented by the BBC, carries significant real-world ethical baggage.

As of this post, Gov. Eliot Spitzer has the lead with 686/1508 votes. You yourself can vote by clicking through the link below. Oh, and for those who did not “get” the photo caption above, it is a Futurama reference.

Thanks: GamePolitics.com

One of the ways developers encourage gamers to replay single player games is to fill them with easter eggs and special rewards. Gamers can score all kinds of interesting little enhancements for finishing the game twice or playing on the ultra mind blowing difficulty level.

Game Informer has put together some of the most memorable unlockable costumes from popular video games. From the Cod of War to the tongue in cheek tribute to Sailor Moon, complete with cheesy transformation scene, from Silent Hill 3; developers have proved time and again they have a twisted sense of humor.

Check out the coolest and strangest costumes from Ghost Squad Wii, Devil May Cry 3 – Dante’s Awakening Special Edition, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill 3 & 4, Tomb Raider Legend, God of War, Dead Rising, Metroid and Bully. They’re all up for display on Game Informer.

EA’s takeover attempts of Rockstar parent company Take-Two continue to throw the exact details of the GTA developer’s future into disarray, but that hasn’t stopped them from going out and making an acquisition themselves. Massachusetts-based Mad Doc Software has been acquired by Rockstar and will become Rockstar New England.

“We’re eager to bring our expertise to bear in the character-driven, open-world stories that make Rockstar Games titles so uniquely compelling,” said Mad Doc founder Dr. Ian Lane Davis.

The company has both developed games in the past (including Empire Earth II and Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna) and worked as a contractor on other games, focusing on graphics, networking and AI.

Chances are that Joe Reader doesn’t really know what to make of this one way or the other. But certain gamers won’t be pleased to know that Mad Doc worked on Bully: Scholarship Edition for Xbox 360, which has had its fair share of problems.

via Next Gen

Rockstar finally delivered on their promise to issue a patch for Bully: Scholarship Edition yesterday, so if you logged into XBL you should have been able to download it. The problem with the patch though, according to some who downloaded it, is that it did not seem to fix many of the game’s issues.

According to some posters over on MTV’s Multiplayer Blog, a few users are still experiencing freezing, frame rate issues, audio glitches, an errands still disappearing. So what if anything did this patch fix? Are the issues that some gamers are still experiencing just an isolated issue, or is it perhaps due to not installing the patch properly (if that is possible), or is it possibly an Xbox issue, or is it just a crummy patch all around?

We are unsure at this point, so just keep your shirts on until we can find out one way or the other – but you can guarantee that we will keep you updated on the situation as soon as more information becomes available.

Thanks: MTV Multiplayer