The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review a California law banning sale or rental of violent games to children is raising concern within the videogame industry, which has a great deal at stake in the outcome.
The law has never taken effect because of lower court rulings. But a decision from the high court that sides with California could impact a major source of revenue for the industry, since many of the titles targeted by the law are among its biggest sellers.
The debate over whether violent video games are bad for minors is going in front of the Supreme Court. The Court on Monday agreed to review a California law that bans the sale or rental of violent games to children.
It’s a bit of a surprise move by the Court, which many expected would decline to hear California’s appeal of the case after last week’s decision overturning a ban on depictions of animal cruelty for being too broad. (Experts say the wording of both laws in question were similar.)
For the first time, the US Supreme Court plans to take a closer look at the constitutional protection of video games.
The Court agreed Monday to review a California law prohibiting the sale or rental of violent video games to minors that a lower body had ruled unconstitutional.
Looking to get a new job or secure a promotion at the office? Try playing a round of Modern Warfare 2 or spending some time in World of Warcraft
.
While, technically, neither in and of itself will help you climb the corporate ladder, a new book argues that the skills you learn playing video games can be extremely beneficial to your career.
Netflix isn’t the only movie rental service 
that has agreed to delay giving its customers new releases. Redbox has struck a deal with Twentieth Century Fox and Universal to wait 28 days before offering movies in its machines.
The agreement might cost Redbox some customers, but it will ultimately save it money. The studios have agreed to sell the company DVDs at a lower price. The agreement is pretty much instantaneous and will begin with Universal’s “It’s Complicated,” and Fox’s “Avatar”.
Making a home sale has never been a lot of fun — but in this economy, it’s even worse.
If you’ve followed the usual chestnuts about boosting curb appeal and staging your living room properly, but still aren’t getting any bites, there are other ways to help catch a buyer’s eye.
Stories about film studios that have had YouTube rip down videos
featuring copyrighted works are a dime a dozen, but it’s not that often that you see the surfers of the Web unite in protest over it.
Constantin Films is in the middle of a PR disaster for just this reason, though. The German production company has asked the streaming video service to remove the hundreds of parody videos that used the climatic scene from its film “Downfall”.
If the majority of an audience walked out of a movie before it was over, Hollywood would be buzzing. But when a player quits a video game midway through, it’s not just unsurprising, it’s almost expected.
According to Remedy, the developer of the upcoming Xbox 360 thriller “Alan Wake,” Microsoft’s internal research finds that only 30% of players finish games they start. Some of that can be written off to being dissatisfied with the product, but most of those players are perfectly happy with the game. They just didn’t bother completing it.
Major League Baseball is coming to the PlayStation3,
but it has nothing to do with videogames. Sony and MLB Advanced Media have announced a deal that will see live games streamed live over the console effective today, Thursday.
The service is a strategic expansion for both parties. MLB hopes to dramatically grow the number of subscribers to its online service, while Sony continues to grow the PS3 beyond its gaming roots.
Chris Morris: Journalist 