David Cage feels the need for gaming industry to grow up

Characters in video games have been almost universally dull, mundane and predictable. David Cage, creator of Heavy Rain would like the industry to grow up, especially in character development area.

"As an industry we games for teenagers and kids, so we try to make things very casual and as clear as possible," David told NowGamer.

"The bad guys have to be very baaaaaaaaaaad and the hero has to have big muscles and look fantastic. And the women have to have big boobs and be very sexy because to a teenager, this is what women are."

"I Think we've pass that stage and we can go to the next one and say, 'you know what, I think you can be a very evil character, but it's not written on your your face'."

Ok boys, you heard the man, it's time to grow up, women are not all about big boobs.

Get the full vibe whenever you like.

11/06/09 Erinice Gilbert

Activision sets out to educate parents

In an attempt to educate Parents about the ESRB rating system Activision is kicking off a new corporate initiative called "Ratings are not a game". So far, a three part series of videos that are supposed to educate parents about the ESRB system as well as give tips on how to use games for problem solving skills and which games are appropriate for what group of people.

With the ongoing media battles over the last decade about the impact of games it would seem many companies are making concerted efforts to inform parents of their own responsibility to monitor their children's intake of media. Common sense would dictate that if a game has an M rating its probably not suitable for a 5 yr. old but the industry probably still has a few years left of dealing with uneducated consumers regarding our medium. I say this because if you think of the evolution of gaming a large percentage of people in their late 30,s and 40,s still view games as kids fare because the only games they ever played were coin opps an Nintendo type kid fare. We are however coming to a point where the majority of the population will have at some point been exposed to more mature games do to the inception of the Playstation and the increase in mature content that it brought with it. Those who spent hours in college playing Resident Evil and Metal Gear would it seem have a greater understanding of the content available and what is appropriate for their children then those who the most violent thing they ever saw in a video game was a Mushroom genocide at the hands of 2 pesky Italian brothers.

If your under 18 and begging your parents for MW2 then you might not agree with the efforts Activision and other publishers are taking to better inform your parents of the content of their games. but if your a mature gamer who is tired of your slightly older but less informed peers still thinking gamers are all 12 year old boys than like me you applaud the industry for taking these steps. If we as an industry don't take steps to fix the PR issues this industry has than like in several counties across the globe such as AUS. and China our governments will, and nobody wants that. Just ask all those gamers in AUS. who wont be playing L4D2 on NOV. 17th.

11/04/09 David Allison

Japan: 1 Million Xbox 360s Sold in 4yrs, Should Microsoft Give up?

Some say if you want your games console to succeed in this business then you must have a foothold in Japan; for this very reason Microsoft has spent billions of dollars trying its best to do just that, but our research has shown Microsoft's effort is constantly falling flat. They've been trying for four long, hard, drawn-out years with little to show. Recently we provided data proving how poor the top 5 Xbox 360 "exclusives" in Japan have performed even after throwing millions at developers, combined those games did not break past 900,000 sold. Here's the list:

1. Star Ocean 4 (life-to-date: 208,521)

2. Blue Dragon (life-to-date: 203,740)

3. Tales of Vesperia (life-to-date: 194,714)

4. Last Remnant (life-to-date: 154,493)

5. Lost Odyssey (life-to-date: 104,417)

Total life-to-date sales combined: 865,885. What's even worst is most of the aforementioned games will soon be available for the PS3 with Tales of Vesperia already out for Sony's console with that version selling over 140,000 copies in the first day and 217,000 in its first week out, totally outstripping the life-to-date sales of the Xbox 360 version. So it's definitely an uphill battle for the Redmond giant. With some voicing their concerns publicly and gamers being furious about Microsoft's lack of first party studios, the question must be asked: Should Microsoft abandon their efforts in Japan and focus on the western regions like Europe and North America? Or should the software giant keep waging war on Sony and Nintendo's territory? The recent data we found is depressing to say the least, if Microsoft is in this business to make a profit and not just throw money at problems, then maybe they should consider leaving. Apparently, the Japanese are just not into the Xbox 360, let's have a look at some stats.

According to this very reliable source the Xbox 360 has sold (as of March 2009) 1,001,191 consoles in Japan. That's after being available for four years; With the recently redesigned PS3 Slim and Nintendo slashing the price of its flagship console it's extremely hard to see Japan as a good business investment pumping millions, even billions into for Microsoft. All that does is adds more debt to a Console that has cost them over 3 billion in RROD fixes and replacements. It's true some markets won't make a company any money, however they stay to keep a presence in said markets because of reputation and strategic placement. But with the Japanese market down over 18% this year, and big name publishers like Square-Enix looking eastward, it's probably time for Steve Ballmer and his gang to rethink their strategy. Share your thoughts below, should they leave, or stay until they find a foothold.

10/06/09 Ernice Gilbert