Thanks to Bloomberg for its article discussing a seeming lack of development kits for Sony's forthcoming PSP handheld, and the logical possibility the system "may be hampered by a lack of new games" when the handheld "goes on sale in Japan before yearend." According to the news article: "Sony has yet to send the final development kits for PlayStation Portable to any of its outside game publishers, said Yoshiko Furusawa, a spokeswoman with Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo. Sony had already sent the final kits to publishers for its best-selling PlayStation 2 home video-game console at a similar stage before its debut in March 2000, Furusawa said." Hirofumi Otsuki of Sega added: "We don't know if we'll meet Sony's schedule... PlayStation Portable details still seem to be in development."

Thanks to the New York Times for its article (free reg. req.) discussing game addiction as it relates to playing backgammon online. The author, who found "a deep, narcotic satisfaction in online backgammon" at sites such as Itsyourturn.com and DailyGammon, tries to discuss what gaming addiction is, and whether it's healthy. Dr. Eric Hollander, the director of the Compulsive, Impulsive, and Anxiety Disorders Program at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, argues with regard to this addiction: "Everyone has their own optimal level of arousal... If you're understimulated, you're bored, and if you are overstimulated, you're uncomfortable. This is a way of regulating that process." [However, Dr.Hollander did also say "I recently got a BlackBerry, and I have this compulsive e-mail checking [habit] now."] Can you relate these 'casual game' addictions to more often discussed MMO addiction, and if not, how do they differ?

Thanks to IGN Pocket for its feature suggesting a range of game ideas to make the most of Nintendo DS' dual-screen touchpad features, since, as the introduction argues, the forthcoming DS "offers the most vast number of opportunities for unique game design types than any handheld or console in quite some time." The theoretical, not in-production suggestions include a Total Control Boxing title where "the touchpad of the Nintendo DS gives developers a lot more room to explore and move the controller in an analog space", a touch-screen based version of previously mentioned Ragdoll Kung Fu ("Like shiny shirts are the new black, physics is the new jumping"), and double-character platform gaming ("The large touchpad and double-screen system means that doubled playing fields could easily be the norm rather than an abnormality.") What gameplay ideas would you like to see the DS innovate with?

Thanks to DIY Games for its update on last month's free graphical adventure and text adventure releases, as "some older games gained recognition, and some newer ones may soon follow their example." Among the highlights was the previously DIY Games-referenced title A Case Of The Crabs, "One of the rare Flash [graphic adventure] projects... [that] deserves your attention" and which "got first featured in The New York Times Circuits sections, and later became no. 7 in the top 100 on-line games at FHM.com." Elsewhere, "The Adventurers Underground published an excellent article about The Reality on the Norm", a "a series of [graphic adventure] games based around a fictitious town." Finally, and oddly, the Adventure Game Studio software spawned the decidedly non-traditional Mafioso Over Kill, a "rail shooter, reminiscent of the Virtua Cop arcade games."

Thanks to Video-Fenky for its weblog entry detailing the results of a Japanese survey about online gaming. When asked: "Have you ever played a premium online game?", 54.3% of the 300 Japanese net users surveyed said "No, and I have no plans to", increased from the previous year's survey and "now the majority." In addition, the question "What do premium online games need to become more popular?" elicits 56.0% suggesting "Better prices", and 20.3% want "Better payment systems." Apparently: "The [Nikkei-relayed report] concludes that while Japan's net infrastructure has improved greatly over the course of a year, work remains to be done on more useful payment systems and more interesting content."

Thanks to Waxy.org for its story discussing Jaleco's apparently legitimate use of the public domain PocketNES emulator in a Game Boy Advance game without explicit permission, explaining: "While the emulation community was outraged, the emulator's programmer felt a bit differently." The article notes: "Like the recent Classic NES Series, Jaleco Entertainment's Jajamaru Jr. for the Gameboy Advance is a nostalgic reissue for the Japanese market... [that] includes five different emulated classic NES/Famicom titles from Jaleco's library: Ninja Jajamaru, Jajamaru's Great Adventure, Exerion, City Connection, and Formation Z." Although "Emulation fans were upset, with cries of copyright infringement", the emulator's author responded: "Yes, PocketNES is public domain... I wanted it to be public domain. This 'Jaleco incident', in fact, is the very reason I wanted to make it FREE (as in public domain) rather than 'GPL free' (strings attached). I'm not a fan of the GPL, I think it's selfish."

Dan writes "What a wonderful find--it seems since the internet, we've forgotten the correct way to communicate with people. So here is a book to teach us the proper etiquette, as well as how to handle complex modern communications devices."

Kojote writes "The latest PDRoms Coding Competition has just finished. The idea was to write a homebrew Game & Watch-style freeware game for handhelds or consoles, and there were a total of 24 freely downloadable submissions. In detail, there were 10 Game Boy Advance entries, 8 GP32 entries, 3 Gameboy Color entries, 1 Genesis/Megadrive entry and 1 Neo Geo Pocket Color entry. The winning entries were headed by Beer Belly Bill (GBA) by Metalvotze. If you don't have real hardware to test the entries, you can use emulators such as VisualBoy Advance (GBA/GBC) and GeePee32 (GP32). Have fun!"

Thanks to GameSpot for its interview with Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) president Patricia Vance, following yesterday's publishing of a 'Marketing Violent Entertainment To Children' report [PDF link] by the Federal Trade Commission. The report's findings are discussed by 1UP, noting the FTC "still gives mixed marks to the American games industry when it comes to marketing mature games to a younger audience." Vance indicates that "ESRB's focus will continue to be on getting retailers to display signage at the point of purchase that increases awareness and use of the rating system", although, even after improvement over previous years: "69% of survey participants (aged between 13 and 16) were able to buy an M-rated game without hindrance, including 55% of unaccompanied customers." Outside of the ESRB's duties, "The FTC's chief sticking point was still with the placement of [M-rated] videogame advertisements... [which] still frequently appear in enthusiast gaming magazines and other publications technically aimed at a teenage audience."

MacManX writes "Does the director of Apple's upcoming Mac OS X feature, Dashboard, have something to hide? Or does he wish to remain hidden? Or are we just reading into this way too much? Rick has an excellent observation over at MacMerc. The evidence will astound you."

Thanks to Bloomberg.com for its story revealing Sony is delaying the American release of its PSX PlayStation 2/digital video recorder combo device until 2005, allegedly "because the device may not appeal to U.S. consumers", according to the article. Dick Komiyama, although not explicitly stating these worries, said: "We're working very hard to make the technology feasible for U.S. consumers", and analyst Masayuki Ito argued: "'Delays give a bad impression... Investors probably didn't have high expectations for the product' because it has had little appeal in Japan." We recently discussed the debut of an enhanced PSX in Japan, as well as earlier issues with last year's Japanese launch.

Thanks to Slate for its article discussing why stealth elements are now integrated into some of the most interesting new videogames. The author argues: "10 years after Doom, the rampant weapon-play can start to seem tedious. Kill your enemies, reload, kill some more, reload - man, what a drag. You become a pacifist for the weirdest possible reason: not because the virtual violence seems so awful but because it's so bloody repetitive", before suggesting that, although "many of these games do, in the end, require you to resort to at least some violence", an "unexpected benefit" of stealth titles such as Thief: Deadly Shadows is that "Your aesthetic experience becomes much better. Most lightning-fast 'twitch' shooter games are so fast-paced you barely have time to notice how wonderfully detailed the 3-D world is... Stealth turns gamers into tourists."

News for nerds writes "According to Mr. Goto @ Impress PC Watch (Japanese article), Rambus Developers Forum Japan 2004 was held this week in Tokyo to show the roadmap of XDR DRAM, the memory chip in the Sony PlayStation 3 console, and SCEI did the keynote speech; the next-gen interactive console will be able to render in real-time, unlike current pre-rendered content playback machines. XDR DRAM production start deadline is still set at mid-2005 by Toshiba, Elpida and Samsung, which means that production of PS3 itself starts in 2005 and the console will be shipped in late 2005 or early 2006, as Cell is already sampled. Mr. Goto has revealed another insider news; single XDR DRAM chip in PS3 was changed to 256Mbit from expected 512Mbit. It means either of the 2 scenarios - (1) Total memory in PS3 was reduced from 256MB to 128MB (2) Memory bandwidth in PS3 was raised from 25.6GB/sec to 51.2GB/sec (RADEON X800 XT has 35.8GB/sec). Since Toshiba put the same potential market forecast per bits at RDFJ 2004 as in 2003, (2) is likely."

Tycoon Guy writes "TrekToday reports that the next Star Trek movie will deal with the war between Earth and the Romulans that led to the founding of the Federation. According to Rick Berman, the film will be 'set before the time of Kirk, but will not be connected with Enterprise.' So how will they make this fit with the Classic Trek episode Balance of Terror, in which we learned that no human ever saw the face of a Romulan during the Romulan Wars?"

theodp writes "Kids at NYU's Intensive Video Game Creation are trading open lakes, green mountains and plentiful daylight for air-conditioned classrooms in the city. Those attending the $5,125, five-week camp - all guys aged 15 to 20 - will use the Center for Advanced Digital Application's facilities to learn the techniques behind Doom, Quake and Madden. It's the first summer camp for game builders on the East Coast. Last year, WA-based Digipen held its first video game creation camp in California, and the University of Illinois hosted one for girls."

Thanks to Yahoo/The Hollywood Reporter for its article discussing the digital distribution of older mainstream video games, in a continuation of a previously discussed story about digital 'gaming on demand' subscription services. Yoav Tzruya of content aggregator Exent points out some major ISP advantages: "Users who subscribe to games on demand services are 75% less likely to switch to other broadband providers", and claims (though the article also mentions "on Yahoo, the Top 10 games on demand titles are invariably popular 'hardcore' games") that: "We approach a different set of gamers who don't go into the stores that sell games. More than 50% of the games on demand customers are women, and we have quite a few who are 25-plus years old. We are approaching different decision makers and different budgets."

igargoyle writes "France Telecom has done some fun R&D to display pixilated images from your cellphone on your shirt or sleeve. These raver garments can even be used as a standalone device that can animate based on sounds and gestures. With better resolution, designer memes and logos might become the hot intellectual property being shared by the young hipsters. Then again, maybe it will just be another place for advertisers to exploit."

Thanks to SPOnG.com for its interview with SNK's Yoshihito Koyama and Shinya Morishita about the veteran developer/publisher, with topics including the death of the classic Neo Geo MVS cartridge system ("There is no reason why the system could not be used now and in the future... we have not been held back by the hardware platform we use. The main problem is the pirates"), and the scale of the piracy that prompted it ("We released King of Fighters 2003 in Japan. Within two days we were seeing copied versions of our [cartridge] from China hitting the open market across Asia... Our game [ROMs] have also been spread across the Internet, another reason why enhanced hardware technology will help us.") Eurogamer also has another SNK interview, similarly conducted on the occasion of SNK's European publishing deal with Ignition, which talks PlayStation 2 game approval issues, mentioning: "With Sony you have to think about SCEA [Sony America] approval because they don't like 2D games, but SCEE [Sony Europe], they accept 2D games for release, but SCEA say 'no, they must be 2 in 1', or something like this."

Thanks to TeamXbox for its story discussing issues requiring some Xbox Live players to switch their GamerTag name IDs, since, according to Microsoft: "There are many names on the Xbox Live service that are extremely similar to other Gamertags (in most cases differentiated by only a single space.)" Some gamers who have had the same nickname for almost 2 years are understandably upset, though Microsoft is offering "a free game... [and] 1 year subscription to Xbox Live" by way of compensation. An official Microsoft spokesperson on the Xbox.com messageboards indicated: "This problem has nothing to do with the way we code...it's what we need to do to normalize data as we connect to other partners that need to work w/ [Xbox] Live... We are very upset that we had to do this" - some commenters claim (though it's not been specifically stated) that EA's upcoming Xbox Live debut has helped precipitate the name switch.

Thanks to the L.A. Daily News for its story discussing new safety-related restrictions for cybercafes in Los Angeles, including "restricted hours for children, video surveillance and interior waiting areas." Apparently: "Council members voted 11-0 to place rules on roughly 30 cybercafes in Los Angeles that draw a primarily teenage clientele to play video games on high-speed computers linked to the Internet", following "a melee outside the NetStreet Cafe in Northridge [that] left two people injured in December 2002 [and was linked to Counter-Strike in some stories]." Councilman Greg Smith commented: "Cybercafes are not inherently bad or troublesome, it's the attractive nuisance that they provide to children... It's just the nature of the beast that they draw people late at night and provide a place to go that may attract problems." Update: 07/08 23:56 GMT by S : A commenter points to a detailed analysis of the requirements from someone involved in the negotiations, who concludes: "This is actually a victory for the nascent and struggling [cybercafe] industry."