Snippets: MS: Reach bigger than GT5, AU defends MA15+, Stevie Wonder on games

Here's a roundup of today's news found elsewhere on the internet:

Greenberg reckons Reach will lap GT5 (eurogamer) - Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg reckons Halo: Reach will be king of the sales castle come the end of 2010 and has even dismissed competition from Gran Turismo 5.

"Is it launching next year?" he joked about the PS3-exclusive Polyphony Digital racer, speaking in an interview with Gamasutra.

"I've seen years and years of mini-games, but I haven't seen that the game is done. They just released the PSP version - maybe that's what they've been working on. I feel confident that there's nothing that will compare in size. Halo: Reach will be the biggest game of 2010."

Australia's Atkinson defends Aliens Vs Predator decision (gamesindustry.biz) - Michael Atkinson, Australia's controversial Attorney General, has defended the decision to refuse classification to Sega and Rebellion's Aliens vs. Predator, claiming that: "You don’t need to be playing a game in which you impale, decapitate and dismember people."

Speaking on an ABC News piece, Atkinson again defended the fact that Australia has no 18+ or mature rated classification for videogames.

"This is a question of a small number of very zealous gamers trying to impose their will on society. And I think harm society. It’s the public interest versus the small vested interest," he said.

"I accept that 98 per cent, 99 per cent of gamers will tell the difference between fantasy and reality, but the 1 per cent to 2 per cent could go on to be motivated by these games to commit horrible acts of violence," he added.

Judge Rejects Bethesda Motion to Stop Sale of PC Fallout Bundle (Kotaku) - A federal judge has shot down a motion by Bethesda Softworks to stop Interplay from selling three PC Fallout titles it published. The decision also means Interplay's work on the Fallout MMO continues, though the lawsuit against them still lives.

Here's the score: Bethesda sued Interplay, claiming the Fallout Trilogy bundle it was selling and marketing through digital distribution services was "confusingly similar" to Bethesda's Fallout 3 products going out this year. Bethesda also wants to terminate Interplay's contract to develop the Fallout MMO, a deal signed when Bethesda bought the rights in 2007 - for $5.75 million - from Interplay, the series' original publisher.

But U.S. District Court Judge Deborah K. Chasanow rejected Bethesda's request for an injunction, without giving any reasons, in a ruling first found by Fallout fan Web site Duck and Cover, and reported today by Gamasutra.

Stevie Wonder's Plea for Accessibility in Games (Kotaku) - Undoubtedly, the Spike Video Game Awards' Best Music Game was going to go to The Beatles: Rock Band, and the show lined up a presenter with enough star power to do the job last night: Motown legend Stevie Wonder.

But it's what Wonder, did with the moment that shows why the man is and has been so respected, for so long, in both his art and popular culture. In praising the rhythm genre for creating accessibility to disabled gamers, Wonder - blind since birth - called on the industry as a whole to follow that example, and find ways that this emerging art form may be enjoyed by everyone.

Yes, "video game" would imply that sight is a necessary condition of participation. People have had the same assumption about baseball, which is also played by the blind; basketball is contested by those who use wheelchairs. On and on. These are not the games many people choose to play, and they are not the ones we watch on television. But the value these sports present to their participants can't be qualified by whether the fully abled would want to play.

lolstralia

greenberg is dreaming lol, i can understand how halo will out perform to the point of being GT5 lol... i think he is a bit over confident in it being the best game of 2010!

Halo reach will be good, I'm confident of that but it won't nearly be as exciting as the story will be about what happens to the chief after the halo saga.

Midi wrote: Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg reckons Halo: Reach will be king of the sales castle come the end of 2010 and has even dismissed competition from Gran Turismo 5. "Is it launching next year?" he joked about the PS3-exclusive Polyphony Digital racer, speaking in an interview with Gamasutra. "I've seen years and years of mini-games, but I haven't seen that the game is done. They just released the PSP version - maybe that's what they've been working on. I feel confident that there's nothing that will compare in size. Halo: Reach will be the biggest game of 2010."

Midi wrote: Speaking on an ABC News piece, Atkinson again defended the fact that Australia has no 18+ or mature rated classification for videogames. "This is a question of a small number of very zealous gamers trying to impose their will on society. And I think harm society. It’s the public interest versus the small vested interest," he said. "I accept that 98 per cent, 99 per cent of gamers will tell the difference between fantasy and reality, but the 1 per cent to 2 per cent could go on to be motivated by these games to commit horrible acts of violence," he added.

I honestly don't know who's worse out of these two. They both are colossal morons.

This guy..

Quote: "It’s the public interest versus the small vested interest"

Segways to this..

Quote: "I accept that 98 per cent, 99 per cent of gamers will tell the difference between fantasy and reality, but the 1 per cent to 2 per cent could go on to be motivated by these games to commit horrible acts of violence,"

@_@

Horrible violence to be eliminated aye? that's the goal? no more contact sports for you Australia, or alcohol.

"This is a question of a small number of very zealous gamers trying to impose their will on society."

Could he try any harder, that is physically an outright lie for one, by their will he means freedom to choose right? oh god someone inform the Queen!, for the second the irony of HIM complaining about anyone imposing their will on society is beyond ironic, new words like ironicaltastic will have to be created to serve the need he has created.

What happened to hating on violent TV/movies ffs.

At least the whole R18+ classification debate is finally getting some recognition rather than just being ignored.

R18+ computer games classification under consideration by Australian Government
http://www.ag.gov.au/gamesclassification

ACT Attorney-General Confirms Support For R18+ Rating

Cpt.Neon wrote: At least the whole R18+ classification debate is finally getting some recognition rather than just being ignored. R18+ computer games classification under consideration by Australian Government

Had a snicker at it mentioning Rapelay.

DJ Mystic wrote: I honestly don't know who's worse out of these two. They both are colossal morons.

So true. First greenburg, Halo will probably sell more copies then most PS3 games but doesn't mean its bigger just means most xbox fans got no other games to play next year so the whole console install base goes in buys halo, also xbox alot off people prefer fps compared to PS where its a big mix off people ranging from hardcore fps kinda like the 360 but then lots off other users who prefer RPGs, action games like uncharted which you hardly ever see these type off games on the 360.

Aussie is stupid for not changing the rules, gaming isn't what it used to be where it started off targeted towards young people. games have matured and alot off people now are much older then what it used to be. If aussie really thinks people shouldn't be watching violence like that, then they might as well ban R18 movies. I bet the guy wouldn't want R18 movies banned from aussie, so why should games?

DJ Mystic wrote: Had a snicker at it mentioning Rapelay.

Wonder what Battle Raper is rated in NZ. It doesn't actually contain rape, just...sex battles or something apparently. EDIT: scratch that, just had a wiki of it. The shoe fits.

Oh, those zany Japanese, what WILL they think of next.

XSpike wrote: compared to PS where its a big mix off people ranging from hardcore fps kinda like the 360 but then lots off other users who prefer RPGs

Quote: action games like uncharted which you hardly ever see these type off games on the 360.

360 never sees games like Uncharted? Haha. That game is pretty much "Gears of Tomb Raider", there's absolutely nothing original about it whatsoever gameplay wise.

Granted the PS3 these days has far more interesting exclusives these days than 360, but to say that there's a drought or/and lack of variation in either the 360's library or titles due out in the new year is entirely innaccurate.

Mind you I'm entirely not defending anything which Greenberg has said. To make such claims is quite over-zealous and pretty silly. If anything Call of Duty 7 will likely outsell the next Halo expansion pack.

Even I'd put money on the next Halo outselling GT5. Mainly because it appeals to a much larger audience (FPS's vs Driving Simulators). Doesn't mean it's a better game. Personally Halo is overdone already tbh.

But then again, GT5P is the best selling PS3 game of date.

Eva - It's not just the gameplay but the Story and Presentation as well (in the cause of U2).

god I feel bad for the australians by his luck, some crazed gamer will kill him to prove his point.

EvaUnit02 wrote: 360 never sees games like Uncharted? Haha. That game is pretty much "Gears of Tomb Raider", there's absolutely nothing original about it whatsoever gameplay wise. Granted the PS3 these days has far more interesting exclusives these days than 360, but to say that there's a drought or/and lack of variation in either the 360's library or titles due out in the new year is entirely innaccurate. Mind you I'm entirely not defending anything which Greenberg has said. To make such claims is quite over-zealous and pretty silly. If anything Call of Duty 7 will likely outsell the next Halo expansion pack.

Splinter Cell: Conviction, Mass Effect 2, Halo Reach, Alan Wake, Crackdown 2, Fable 3, Indianapolis 500 Evolution, Magesty 2: Fantasy Kingdom Sim, Super Star, and Versus Tactical Action

Any other games for 360 coming out next year you know off?
Its pretty much lacking good games next year, and this year wasn't as great as it should be for 360. Its really no wonder why MS tries to buy out EA, or other game companys they need more games on 360!

Well Ive still got a 360, never use it atm. Will do when i see a good game.

P.S. I hope someone does try back the 360 up, i mean come on it needs more games then what i've listed otherwise it is a shit console to own for 2010...

DJ Mystic wrote: Eva - It's not just the gameplay but the Story and Presentation as well (in the cause of U2).

Quote: MadWorld passes Australia's OFLC with MA 15+ rating by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 19th 2009 at 11:14AM } Australia's governmental ratings board, the OFLC, has classified the unabashedly violent MadWorld with an "MA 15+" rating. Sega informed IGN that the game was not "edited or adjusted" for the land down under. Last week, the title received an "18" rating in Britain, and having now passed both the BBFC and the OFLC, it's expected that the United States' ESRB will hand the title a "Mature" sticker. It's certainly interesting that Australia let the game pass with an MA 15+, at least based on the footage and images we've seen. For better or worse, perhaps the region is loosening up its policies in lieu of implementing an R18+ rating for games.

Yeah not really.

Strange that Australia allowed MadWorld, a game where creative dispatching of enemies reaches new heights of depravity. Sure you could decapitate him with your chainsaw arm, but how about shoving a sign post through his head and impaling him on a rack of spikes first?

Ultimately though, banning violent video games in an attempt to serve a wider public good completely and utterly misses the point.