Archive: 30 April – 6 May 2012
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Friday 4 May 2012
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Vicky Frost: For most people the appeal of We Sing Pop! is likely to be as a social activity Continue reading...
We Sing Pop! ... you can have a bad romance with Lady Gaga
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The Game City tent in Nottingham's Market Square. Photograph: Elliot Smith for guardian.co.uk
Keith Stuart: The creator of Populous will be among the big draws at this year's week-long celebration of game culture
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Elder Scrolls V: will the Online adventure be set in this landscape? And is that a plastic bag in the tree on the right?
Keith Stuart: Bethesda to launch a new massively multiplayer adventure in its multi-million selling Elder Scrolls series
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The place to talk about games and other things that matter
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Thursday 3 May 2012
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Grand Theft Auto 4: 'a touching, sensitively written character in cut-scenes can be transformed into a mass-murdering asshole as soon as the player regains control'
Mary Hamilton: Admitting most games have laughable storylines is fine as long as we don't believe that's all games are capable of
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Keith Vaz wants tighter controls on violent games such as the best-selling Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Labour MP Keith Vaz has tabled an early day motion calling for more stringent government controls on violent video games.
The motion, put forward on 24 April, makes reference to Anders Breivik, who shot and killed 69 people on the island of Utøya, Norway, in July 2011.
Breivik claimed to have prepared for the attack by playing the hugely successful first-person shooter, Call of Duty.
In the text accompanying the EDM, Vaz states: "[This house] notes that in his submission of evidence to the court Breivik describes how he trained for the attacks using the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare."
The text then asserts that the house "is disturbed that Breivik used the game to help hone his 'target acquisition' and the suggestion that the simulation prepared him for the attacks".
Although all games must carry age ratings to restrict their sale to children, Vaz criticises the current PEGI system for not seeking to restrict what he calls ultra-violent content.
The motion says: "In an era of ever-more sophisticated and realistic game-play, more robust precautions must be taken before video games are published."
The government is called on to provide for closer scrutiny of aggressive first-person shooter video games.
The Labour MP is a regular critic of violent games and has tabled similar motions in the past.
In 2010, he put forward a motion to ensure the clear rating of violent games after a shooting in Malmo, Sweden, in which the first-person shooter Counter-Strike was implicated.
Last year, he tabled a motion about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 claiming a resemblance between the game's "harrowing" scenes set in the London Underground and the terrorist bombings of July 2005.
The Call of Duty series is now one of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world. The most recent instalment, Modern Warfare 3, broke records last December when it made $1bn in revenue just 17 days after its launch.
Each of the past three iterations has sold more than 20m copies and publisher Activision claims that more than 7 million gamers play Call of Duty titles online each day.
At the time of publication, seven MPs had signed the motion alongside Vaz.
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Little Big Planet Karting: taking DIY to the Nth degree
Grant Howitt: United Front Games brings its kart-racing expertise to the Little Big Planet franchise, resulting in a game cobbled together from found parts, enthusiasm and wonder
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Wednesday 2 May 2012
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Rock Band on iPhone is shutting down. Photo: RockBandAide
Stuart Dredge: Decision to make music game unplayable is controversial, but it's not the only example
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Grant Howitt: God of War: Ascension's lovingly detailed gore looks gorgeous but the brawls on offer are no longer primarily a solo experience Continue reading...
God of War: Ascension ... Judge Dredd was not keen on the new uniform
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Max Payne 3: 'I told that damnd kid not to leave his skateboard lying around'
Nick Cowen: Although it borrows a little from the giants in the shooter genre, Max Payne 3 is dirty, fun, gritty and downright mean
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Sniper V2 Elite: 'This'll teach you to spy on me, Jimmy Stewart'
Simon Parkin: This is a flawed action game that misses its targets almost as often as it hits them
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 – robots, drones, x-ray sniper rifles and, strangest of all, a non-linear story
Keith Stuart: Call of Duty looks to be getting a shake-up with its ninth instalment, this time taking place in a drone-battered near-future
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Tuesday 1 May 2012
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Dragon's Dogma ... yes, it's got griffins in it too
Steve Boxer: We collared the producer of Capcom's huge, innovative forthcoming RPG for an exclusive interview when he visited London
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Newround's Ore Oduba with school pupils at the launch of the 2012 Bafta Young Game Designers competition. Photo: Bafta
Keith Stuart: The British Academy's annual game creation competition kicks off today, offering 11-16 year-olds the chance to see their game prototyped by a professional game studio
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Call of Duty: Black Ops – the sequel is due to be revealed tonight, with the possibility of a near-future setting
Keith Stuart: Activision is lining up a big Call of Duty revelation this evening, with hints appearing on the game's official website
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Monday 30 April 2012
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Angry Birds Space has done more than 50m downloads so far
Rovio reaches milestone and releases new levels for iOS and Android versions of its latest game. By Stuart Dredge
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Prototype 2: catching the 8:14 to Brooklyn was getting harder each day
Prototype 2 debuts at the top of the chart, sending last week's No 1, The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings Enhanced Edition, all the way back to sixth place
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