Dead Space facing international bans
07 September, 2008
Dead Space
In space, no one can hear you scream. And apparently in Germany, Japan, and China, things worth screaming over simply aren't allowed.
In a posting on the official Dead Space Web site, EA community manager Ben Swanson announced that the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC game "will be banned in Germany, China, and Japan." Swanson did not say what indications the team has received to suggest the imminent banning of the sci-fi survival horror game.
While China's government has a lengthy history of monitoring the media its citizens consume, the prospect of German and Japanese bans are somewhat more surprising. Capcom ran afoul of Germany's ratings board with Dead Rising, but even when denied a classification, the game wasn't outright banned. Instead, Capcom had to deal with severe limitations on the ways it could be sold and advertised.
Microsoft had a pair of its own Xbox 360 titles--Gears of War and Crackdown--denied classification in Germany. However, it opted not to release the games in the country after the denial, citing a company policy against releasing unrated products.
As for Japan, the country's Computer Entertainment Suppliers' Association (CESA) tops out with a Z-rating, which the board has found suitable for titles like Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Dead Space is set for an October 14 console release in North America (October 20 for the PC version), with a European launch set for October 24. As of press time, EA representatives had not returned requests for clarification on the nature of the bans or why they are expected to come.
In a posting on the official Dead Space Web site, EA community manager Ben Swanson announced that the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC game "will be banned in Germany, China, and Japan." Swanson did not say what indications the team has received to suggest the imminent banning of the sci-fi survival horror game.
While China's government has a lengthy history of monitoring the media its citizens consume, the prospect of German and Japanese bans are somewhat more surprising. Capcom ran afoul of Germany's ratings board with Dead Rising, but even when denied a classification, the game wasn't outright banned. Instead, Capcom had to deal with severe limitations on the ways it could be sold and advertised.
Microsoft had a pair of its own Xbox 360 titles--Gears of War and Crackdown--denied classification in Germany. However, it opted not to release the games in the country after the denial, citing a company policy against releasing unrated products.
As for Japan, the country's Computer Entertainment Suppliers' Association (CESA) tops out with a Z-rating, which the board has found suitable for titles like Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Dead Space is set for an October 14 console release in North America (October 20 for the PC version), with a European launch set for October 24. As of press time, EA representatives had not returned requests for clarification on the nature of the bans or why they are expected to come.
Source: Gamespot.com
Labels: News, PC Games, PC Games News
posted by admin @ 11:31,
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Sins of a Solar Empire total 500K
Sins of solar empire PC
Much ado has been made over the state of PC gaming, and whether it is being slowly strangled into nonexistence by unfettered illegal file-sharing. While many companies have resorted to intrusive digital-rights management programs to keep their games out of the hands of pirates, Stardock entertainment has built a reputation of including no such measures to counter file-sharing, out of what it calls respect for the customer.
So how has this strategy panned out for the gamemaker's first third-party-published title, Ironclad Games' Sins of a Solar Empire? As reported by gaming trade site Gamasutra, Sins of a Solar Empire has surpassed 400,000 units at retail, with another 100,000 units digitally distributed through Stardock's online store, since the PC game went on sale in February. That's not a bad figure, considering Sins reportedly cost under $1 million to make.
Speaking with Gamasutra, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell attributed Sins' sales success in part to the game's broad-audience system requirements.
"Sins of a Solar Empire was explicitly designed to work on a wide variety of machines," said Wardell. "It will run on a four-year-old video card, and it looks great...You make those kinds of design decisions, and you greatly increase the number of people who can play your game. You lose out on some piddly super-mega effect, but you get those units. The results come in sales."
Labels: News, PC Games News, Video-games
posted by admin @ 11:25,
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