ESRB Alters Rules For Trailer Age-Gating

BY

The ESRB is now allowing publishers to release trailers for Mature-rated titles that will not have to be age gated. These trailers will have a green “slate” that airs before the trailer rolls, and is required be on-screen for at least four seconds.

“A trailer, demo, or video (of any length) for a Mature-rated game that has been deemed suitable for a general audience through the ESRB pre-clearance process will not require an age-gate,” describes the ESRB. “Please note that pre-clearance of Mature-rated game trailers posted without an age-gate is mandatory and must be submitted to [the ESRB].”

The policy change will also allow more flexibility in the cross-promoting of products in the same retail package. “This policy addresses cross-marketing of games, not bundling products together,” clarified the ESRB. “The fundamental goal is to ensure that the cross-promotion of products is appropriately targeted. In doing so we may consider a variety of factors including the nature of the product, audience composition of the media vehicle being used, the intended audience of the game, whether registered users are of a certain age, whether an age-gate is employed, etc.”

Also in the note to publishers, ESRB has changed the rules on demos, allowing game demos to forgo flashing the rating for four seconds before the game begins, now only requiring that the rating be displayed in a clearly visible manner from the place it is acquired. Also, the ESRB has relaxed the rule wherein ESRB ratings cannot be displayed next to ratings for other regions, like PEGI, on websites and social media.

Source: GiantBomb.com

Samsung Galaxy S IV Might Have 3D, Panoramic Camera

BY

Samsung has published a trademark that suggests the Galaxy S IV will have a 3D camera. This is support by the 3D-ish image used for the announcement of the March 14 event.

While the 3D camera is something the iPhone does not have, another patent suggests that Samsung is trying to incorporate a panoramic camera lens similar to the iPhone 5. The timing of the patent suggests it could find its way into the Galaxy S IV.

Source: PatentlyApple.com

Google Settles Street View Lawsuit

BY

Google has agreed to pay $7 million to 37 states in a settlement of complaints that its Street View cars violated people’s privacy and has vowed not to do so in the future. Three years ago, Google admitted to collecting information like passwords and e-mails from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks its cars were passing by; Google has also agreed to destroy the personal data it collected.

“We work hard to get privacy right at Google,” said Google in a statement. “But in this case we didn’t, which is why we quickly tightened up our systems to address the issue. The project leaders never wanted this data, and didn’t use it or even look at it.”

The settlement pleased lawmakers from states, but it was quickly criticized by privacy advocates as insufficient. “With Google’s revenue of $100 million a day, the fine is just a drop in the bucket and not enough to deter bad behavior,” said American Consumer Institute president Steve Pociask. “Consumers are growing tired of seeing Google apologize time and time again, pay a small fine and make vague promises in settlements with one agency or another, only later to engage in the same behavior.”

Source: Money.CNN.com

Call Of Duty: Black Ops II Getting ‘Micro Items’

BY

Activision revealed that they are selling “Micro Items” in Call of Duty: Black Ops II as a way to customize the experience. This includes personalization packs for weapons, an option for more loadouts, uploaded movies and screenshots, and national flag-themed Calling Cards.

Also announced is that those who did not get Nuketown Zombies as part of the Hardened or Care Package limited editions of the game can get it as a standalone level for 400 MS Points. Finally, the pre-order bonus map Nuketown 2025 will be made available for free.

Source: OneofSwords.com

Fishing Joy Reeling In $6 Million A Month In China

BY

CocoaChina has announced that Fishing Joy makes over $6 million a month in revenue. The free-to-play mobile franchise has an audience of over 10 million DAUs.

The game saw revenue of $6.28 million in February (a 100 percent increase over two months prior), which CocoaChina attributes to the introduction of carrier billing with China’s three largest wireless operators. Most of the revenue comes from the Chinese Android store, which has a much larger share of the market than iOS given the popularity of Android compared to iPhones in China.

Netflix Launches International Speed Rating Index

BY

Netflix has revealed a list of streaming speeds across ISPs both nationally and internationally, where the company now operates. The U.S. shows the highest streaming bitrate, despite its reputation for relatively slow Internet connections.

This average is skewed by the hyper-fast Google Fiber which streams at 3.35 megabits per second. However, when Google Fiber is removed the U.S. average suddenly drops to 1.8 megabits per second. “That’s only 0.1 Mbps faster than Ireland, and 0.2 Mbps speedier than Mexico, which is last on the list,” writes Nick Statt on Readwrite.

This effort is part of an ongoing passive-aggressive way for Netflix to advocate higher internet speeds now that it is reportedly responsible for 33 percent of Internet traffic in North America. For instance, subscribers to Cablevision and Google Fiber were given new 3D and Super-HD options while subscribers to slower ISPs like Time Warner Cable and AT&T were encouraged to contact their providers.

Source: HuffingtonPost.com

Time Warner Spinning Off Time Inc.

BY

Time Warner has announced its intentions to split off Time Inc. after talks with Meredith Corp., another magazine publisher, collapsed. The magazine unit that is responsible for Time, People, Sports Illustrated and Fortune will become its own separate, publicly traded company.

“After a thorough review of options, we believe that a separation will better position both Time Warner and Time Inc.,” said Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes. “[This will allow the company to] focus entirely on our television networks and film and TV production businesses [and give Time Inc.] the flexibility and focus of being a stand-alone public company.”

Sources say that talks with Meredith fell apart over disagreements on the valuation of the magazines and how much debt the new company would carry. Founded in 1922 by Henry Luce, Time Inc. started as one magazine and grew into an empire of more than 100 titles, helping to eventually create the pay cable channel HBO, and acquiring Warner Communications and Turner Broadcasting.

Magazine revenue has been diminishing for years, however. In 2012, Time Inc. had revenues of $3.4 billion, a decline of 7 percent, while operating income fell 25 percent to $420 million.

Time Inc. CEO Laura Lang will also leave the company, saying that “taking the company through a transition to the public markets is not where my passion lies.” Time Warner will retain its name and indicated that the spinoff should be completed by the end of the year and will be tax free to its shareholders.

Source: LAtimes.com

God Of War Developers Say Kratos Still Compelling

BY

Some people think that the God of War franchise is treading water, now that it is seeing its sixth major release (two on PS2, two on PSP and now two on PS3). However, lead designer Mark Simon asserts that there still a lot of potential for the series.

“I think there’s still life in Kratos,” said Simon. “He’s a fun character to design games around and I love playing him.”

 

 

“Yeah, I think the fantasy of Kratos is always compelling,” added Lead combat designer Jason McDonald. “There’s not many characters that are like him.”

Source: CVG

Stan Lee Leads ‘Injustice’ Celeb Sound Offs

BY

Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Jace Hall and a host of other celebrities with comic book cred kick off the quarterfinal round for “Injustice Battle Arena.”  This virtual fight tournament developed by Ayzenberg for Warner Bros.’ Injustice: Gods Among Us has come down to this – Batman fights Wonder Woman, Aquaman fights the Green Lantern, Superman fights Green Arrow, and Joker fights Flash. Plus Stan Lee and Jace Hall show they have real chemistry – the volatile kind – and Kevin Smith calls Aquaman a “piece of cheap chicken” while picking him as a favorite.

The tension is as palpable as Superman’s density on earth.

Exclusive: Game Legal Issues Topic Of Upcoming Conference

BY

By Meelad Sadat

In 2011, two prominent game industry lawyers took it upon themselves to collectivize their colleagues and establish an organization for anyone interested in practicing law in games. David Rosenbaum, whose private practice has represented game clients for 20 years, and Patrick Sweeney, a thirteen year veteran of both in-house and outside counsel to game companies, founded the Video Game Bar Association (VGBA).

As Rosenbaum put it, it was an idea whose time had come.

“When Patrick and I first started talking about forming the VGBA, we noted that while there are various ‘legal’ activities organized in conjunction with industry conferences and industry organizations, [such as] the ESA and IGDA, until we started the VGBA, there wasn’t an organization that provides a community for lawyers working in the industry to discuss issues of common interest to all lawyers around the world  – regardless of which side of a transaction or litigation a lawyer finds his or her client,” says Rosenbaum.

“The lawyers that tend to practice in this industry all have one common trait – our clients,” says Sweeney. “We all are intricately tied to the business and legal issues pertaining to games because of the way these issues impact our clients.”

A primary goal of the organization is education, according to Sweeney. To that end, the VGBA is organizing its first conference, “Game Business and Legal Affairs,” taking place May 20-21 at University of California, Los Angeles. Well-known industry pundit Michael Pachter and ESA president Michael Gallagher join a lineup that includes lead counsel from major players such as Activision-Blizzard, Sony, Take-Two and Zynga. Among topics being discussed is the debate around video game violence. However, as Rosenbaum and Sweeney point out, the overarching goal of this inaugural VGBA gathering is to bring to the forefront the growing complexity of practicing game law. That includes how the industry’s expansion into digital platforms is introducing new legal challenges.

We talked with them about the event.

Is the conference intended for lawyers only or are you trying to expose a broader audience to the legal issues that games face?

Rosenbaum: The conference is intended for both “experienced” game industry lawyers as well as lawyers interested in representing clients in this space. For our members, this conference is another way that we want to provide a community for lawyers to discuss issues of common interest to all lawyers without regard to positions on specific matters. As Patrick mentioned, the lawyers who regularly practice in the games industry have our clients as a common trait. We all do business in the same industry and new developments in distribution and platforms and IP law impact the larger industry and conferences like this one give attendees exposure to larger industry issues so that they can apply what they learn to the specific needs of their clients.

Sweeney: Similar to the goal of the organization, this event is designed as an in-depth program for legal and business issues facing games companies. At its core, the conference is focused on legal issues and l expect the audience will be attorneys that practice or are interested in this field. However, we also have some terrific speakers from the business side of the industry. Their perspectives will help to frame the legal significance of our topics.

Two topics seem to anchor your conference — doing business in China and the issue of violent games. What are other hot button issues you’ll be covering?

Rosenbaum: Our goal is to discuss current developments in each session. A number of sessions are of the type that one would expect to find at any entertainment legal conference, e.g., the session on IP matters, but we will focus on current developments in IP, employment law and other areas. Doing business in China and the issue of violence in the media are long-standing topics which remain important: China is a leading market in many industries and lawyers have been suing entertainment companies over violent content for decades, but current events keep these issues very topical. Other “hot” issues include complaints over copying/cloning of games, rights or celebrities and athletes to control the use of their likenesses in games, privacy and data protection, online gambling and gaming and virtual transactions.

Sweeney: Echoing David’s perspective, I think that we’ve put together a terrific set of panels. Any one of them could be viewed as an anchor in its own right. We put a lot of effort into covering all facets of the legal world as it relates to the games business.

How has practicing law in games become more complex in the past 5 years; has it been affected by the growth of digital distribution and digital platforms?

Rosenbaum: It certainly has become more complex. The industry used to be a “console-centric” business where developing AAA games for the major platforms drove the business. Work was plentiful for independent developers fighting for many “work-for hire” jobs with major publishers. While the AAA console game remains a significant segment of the industry, the work for hire jobs have largely disappeared and one of the by-products of the growth of digital distribution and digital platforms has been to provide new opportunities for independent developers to transition from console to digital products and remain in business and thrive. With development costs for digital platforms, especially mobile/smartphone, being less than the AAA titles, more companies are self-funding and self-publishing their titles and becoming publishers of their own content. Those practitioners who used to handle what was once a high volume of console development deals for their clients must now be knowledgeable of the regulatory landscape, especially privacy laws.

Sweeney: The nature and structure of these deals has changed dramatically.  Along with that, the goals and concerns of our clients has changed as well. David mentioned privacy, which is more important than ever. In addition, things like the ongoing service component of digital platforms, marketing obligations, etc. are also evolving.

We’ve had yet another milestone week with crowd funding and Brian Fargo’s Kickstarter. What do you (or VGBA) see as potential legal ramifications on the horizon for crowd funded games?

Sweeney: Kickstarter has provided a terrific alternative funding model to get some games into production. What Brian has done, along with Tim Shafer at Double Fine, Feargus Urquhart at Obsidian and many others, is very cutting-edge and entrepreneurial at its core and very good for the industry as a whole. From a legal perspective, there are a lot of issues that should go into any funding exercise, whether Kickstarter or otherwise. Tax and corporate planning, liability issues and the ongoing clarification of the JOBS Act all are potential considerations as crowd funding models continue to evolve beyond just Kickstarter.

Rosenbaum: As Patrick mentioned, there are many issues to be reviewed when advising clients on taking a crowdfunding approach. There are still many “unknowns” however, and we haven’t yet seen the release of many of the “successful” projects, where success is, so far, only measured by meeting the goals of the fundraising campaign, not the actual success of the product. Eventually, disappointment will rear itself and we will start seeing reports of litigation or regulatory action against what are perceived as abuses of these approaches, which will then require lawyers to revisit their previous guidance.