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Gears of War Most Awaited Holiday Title">
Study: Gears of War Most Awaited Holiday Title [11.17.06] Toronto-headquartered research firm BrandIntel has released a study ranking consumer excitement and anticipation for games this holiday season, revealing Epic's Xbox 360 exclusive Gears of War as the top title.
Nintendo Reveals Wii Midnight Launch Plans [11.17.06] New York City's Times Square Toys "R" Us and the Los Angeles Universal CityWalk GameStop will see major launch events Saturday night, with Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime and other yet-unannounced guests in attendance, as the company officially rolls out its Wii console.
PS3 Sees Official North American Launch [11.17.06] Marked by celebrity-studded parties on both coasts, and days-long tent-city encampments surrounding retail outlets in all states in between, Sony has officially launched its latest console, the PlayStation 3 in North America. [More News] [Search News]
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Question of the Week: Are Games Industry Professionals Buying PS3 Or Wii? [11.17.06] In the latest installment of Gamasutra's Question of the Week, on the eve of the two major console launches, we ask our readership of game industry professionals whether they'll be buying a PS3, Wii, or both, and why?
Implementing Dataports [11.16.06] In this technical feature, Sony Computer Entertainment's Martin Linklater (Wipeout: Pure) explains his process for utilizing dataports, a data structure which has has a unique global identity at runtime.
Master Of The Galaxy: Total Gaming's Brad Wardell [11.15.06] In today's exclusive Gamasutra interview, we talk to Stardock's Brad Wardell about the future of his Galactic Civilizations franchise, upcoming MMO Society, the trouble with copy protection, and the need for a creative revolution. [View All Features]
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Industry News
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China Passes 25 Million Paying Gamers, Relaxes Game Restrictions
According to a report by Asian-focused news and analysis site Pacific Epoch, China had 25.3 million paying online gamers at the end of 2005, continuing the massive rise of online video games in the rapidly emerging country.
In addition, the news, revealed as part of the entity's 2006 China's Online Game Report, comes in the wake of news that Chinas Government body General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) has announced that adults will be exempt from the online game fatigue system, which restricts game functionality after a set period of time.
In the original agreement over 'game fatigue', sometimes called the Beijing Accord and signed last August, seven of Chinas largest online games publishers Shanda, NetEase, The9, Optisp, Kingsoft, SINA and Sohu agreed to implement a system which cuts the ability of a players online character in half and their ability to find treasure after three hours of consecutive game use. Further restrictions were then enforced after five hours of continuous play.
The system began on a trial basis in October, promoting mass migrations of users to servers not using the system. The newly revised system will now only be enforced for those under eighteen years of age. However, according to a GAPP official reported on by Pacific Epoch, even this will force gamers to register their real name and details. GAPP officials expect the newly revised online game fatigue system to be implemented across the entire country by the end of 2006.
POSTED: 07.41AM PST, 01/23/06 - David Jenkins - LINK
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