Electronic Arts v Zynga - Real Dispute Over Virtual Worlds

Electronic Arts v. Zynga: Real Dispute Over Virtual Worlds | Fenwick & West LLP - JDSupra: "These disputes – pitting video game companies against one another – often are resolved quickly because of the uncertainty both sides face. Copyright law only protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. Thus, there is no protection under copyright for general concepts, plots, or genres, stock or standard elements of a work that are customary to the genre (known in copyright parlance as scenes a faire), or ideas that are said to be "merged" with their expression (meaning, there is only a very limited number of ways to express a particular idea). But what does this actually mean in the video game context? Generally, that a game's overall theme, features driven by that theme, rules, stock characters, and method of play are not protectable, whereas its layout, look and feel, storyline, dialogue, sounds, and underlying code are protectable."

Sony's steep learning process
Games Industry Blog (blog)
Every company in the console business – publisher, developer, platform holder – is on a steep learning curve right now, but none more so than Sony. Since the departure of PlayStation founding father Ken Kutaragi, whose shadow had loomed large over the ...

Games Industry Blog (blog)

Why Hothead Games Made The Jump From Consoles To Mobile Game ...
MTV.com (blog)
Like it or not, video game companies are in business to make money, and in order to do so, they need to stay on top of, and react to an ever-changing market. Over the last few years mobile games have come into their own since the introduction of the ...

MTV.com (blog)

Social Game Developer Kixeye Fires Four Over Allegations Of Racism
The Inquisitr
Reacting swiftly to allegations of racism from an African-American contractor who worked at the company during the summer, social game developer, Kixeye, fired four employees yesterday. The terminated personnel include the former contractor's ...

Happy Wars – VIDEO GAME NEWS – Free Game – Xbox Live News
ringsidereport.com (blog)
Toylogic Inc., a leading developer of console titles based in Tokyo, Japan, today announced that Happy Wars, a new free-to-play game for Xbox LIVE® Arcade, will be available for all Xbox LIVE Gold Members to download for free on October 12. Happy Wars ...

Cable Companies: Expanding into Video Game Market
Kapitall Blog (blog)
Meanwhile, these consoles may be facing greater competition from cable providers including AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), and Time Warner Cable (TWC), all of which expressed interest in breaking into the video game industry by offering a cloud-gaming service ...

Kapitall Blog (blog)

How Digital Distribution Keeps Out the Indie Developer
NBC Chicago (blog)
As a guy working in the games industry, I often find myself looking around and asking: who isn't invideo-game digital distribution these days? Aside from Apple's App Store, the Android Marketplace, Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network and Steam, ...

Carrier Command: Gaea Mission Demo – Video Game News – Update & More
ringsidereport.com (blog)
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission Demo – Video Game News – Update & More. October 4th, 2012 Geno. Sea trial – Just two days after the game launched worldwide, Bohemia Interactive has commissioned the Windows PC demo for Carrier Command: Gaea Mission. The ...

What Women Want (In Female Video Game Protagonists)
The Mary Sue
Women in Video Games series, and how he believes the lack of female protagonists in games is a more pressing concern than the portrayal of secondary characters. There are plenty of points there worthy of discussion, but what particularly caught my eye ...

10 top-selling video games out now
Washington Post
20 that NHL 13, the latest version of its popular hockey video game, hit a franchise sales record worldwide. During its debut week, sales of the game were up about 9 percent compared with the franchise's previous record launch, the company said.

Don't miss out on extra cash from R&D tax credits
Gamasutra
Due to the technical software/hardware development activities related to such things as uncertainty about product design, and bringing a game to the commercial marketplace, video game developers are often performing qualified activities. That makes ...

Gamasutra

Sports School: If it's in the game, it's unexplained
Joystiq
0. Welcome to Invisible Walls, a column hell-bent on asking questions about video game designfrom the gamer's perspective. ... But in developing these simulations, game developers are focused on recreating the sport though game systems. Once they feel ...

Watch this: PBS Off Book on why indie games are important
The Verge
The Creativity of Indie Video Games looks at the processes involved in indie game development, contrasting them with big-budget projects motivated by turning huge profits. The developersinterviewed argue that, free from the shackles of corporate ...

'Old School RPG' reveals game's universe, theme, and setting
The Verge
The Kickstarter campaign launched by video game developer Brenda Brathwaite, Tom Hall, and Brathwaite's studio, Loot Drop, has revealed new details about the game they plan on making – Old School RPG – including information about the game's theme ...

PBS Off Book video: What Are Indie Video Games
Boing Boing
The video game industry is now bigger than Hollywood, with hundreds of millions of dollars spent developing these interactive experiences. But there are also small-scale developers working in the indie game realm, creating unique and experimental video...

Boing Boing

On Vacation: My portable video games playlist
San Jose Mercury News (blog)
I even had time to drop by The Art of Video Games at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Yes, my vacations are boring but they're ... Pokemon Black Version 2 — It seems as though every time I take a break, there's always a new Pokemon game coming out ...

Pentagon Looks to Diagnose PTSD… With Video Games
Wired
The Army has awarded contracts to the tune of about $100,000 each to three private companies: Vista Life Sciences, Empirical Technologies, and Aptima Inc. The firms have been tasked with creating a video game that could be downloaded onto a soldier's ...

'Halo 4' goes gold, more flood details revealed
Examiner.com
... 2012, the developers behind “Halo 4” made the most exciting announcement yet: “Halo 4” has officially gone gold. What that means is that 343 Industries has finalized their version of the gameand have officially shipped it off to manufacturers to ...

Unchain Blades Exxiv 3DS/PSP Game Delayed 2 Weeks
Anime News Network
The Japanese video game developer FuRyu has delayed its release for the Unchain Blades Exxivvideo game for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Portable handheld consoles by two weeks. Thegame will now be released on November 29. FuRyu noted ...

Don't judge candidate on 'Warcraft,' gamers say
Press Herald
... games are known as massively multiplayer online role-playing games, where large numbers of users can interact in a virtual game world. Its 9.1 million subscribers are the most of any video game of its type in the world, according to the game's ...

Press Herald

See the next version of SimCity in action
CNET
See the next version of SimCity in action. With SimCity's release due for February 2013, developerMaxis teases with an extended gameplay video showing off how the highly anticipated game works. Christopher MacManus. by Christopher MacManus ...

Activision, the Anti-Zynga
Businessweek
If you don't have Oct. 19 marked on your calendar, chances are you're not a big fan of Gill Grunt, Trigger Happy, and the other heroes in the hit video game Skylanders Spyro's Adventure. More than 32 million of the games ... This is good news for ...

Mass Effect 3: Retaliation is largest DLC for game yet and it is free
Examiner.com
Retaliation is not only the largest upgrade for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC game yet according to thedeveloper but it is also free. Here's a breakdown of ... You can check out the trailer for Mass Effect 3: Retaliation in our video gallery. Follow us on ...

Game Guys review - Legasista
News10.net
Publisher/developer NIS America has a knack for releasing video games that can best be described as... well... different. The mainstream seems not to be something that the company concerns itself with. Legasista ... This level of user customization ...

News10.net

6 killer utilities for redlining your gaming rig
PCWorld (blog)
Low frame rates can make or break a 3D game, and while 5 or 10 frames per second (fps) might not seem like a big difference, in action titles this performance delta can change a gaming session from fun to frustrating. Video cards ... This package takes ...

App-building 101? Local developers talk concept to reality
Creative Loafing Atlanta
Of course, there were only about 500 total people playing the game released by a boutique Atlanta game development company barely 24 hours before. Since then my score has steady slid ... Clay: I imagine there are different phases to an appsdevelopment ...

Creative Loafing Atlanta

Resident Evil 6 Review
Action Trip
The creepy atmosphere was always a trademark of the Resident Evil video game series. With everygame, the developers managed to create unique situations where the characters had to fend off blood-starved zombies and every situation would be exciting ...

8 TV Shows That Should Be Video Games
WhatCulture!
Capitalising on existing texts like this provides a good initial platform for developers since they already have complete characters, settings and plotlines available to work with that they can use to influence style of gameplay etc. There are ...

PBS mini-documentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that ...
Engadget
It's that fast-rising side of gaming that PBS' Off Book has explored in a succinct documentary. As both developers and game journalists explain, the small and more flexible nature of indie teams lets them delve into game concepts, art and sound that ...

Zero Punctuation: How One Man Makes The World's Funniest Game Reviews ...
Red Bull UK
His shows clock up more than 200,000 views every single week, but he doesn't just spend his whole time hunched over Photoshop, dreaming up new insults: he's an indiegame developer and novelist too. Here he tell us how he got started, and ... So I ...

Red Bull UK

CVG Classics: A Sly Christmas
Computerandvideogames.com
"Addressing the 120-strong congregation of journalists, developers and retailers at the recent New York launch o f the 'Jagwaa' (that's how they pronounce it over there) was Sam Tramiel, President of Atari. Tramiel told the computer and video game ...

The Key to Building Massively Successful Games: Keep Talking to the Player
Forbes
Managing a community in video games is sometimes seen as an extra – once you've built a gigantic audience, throw the gamers a couple of bones to keep them happy and get them to buy the next game. For large. Image representing Raptr as depicted in ...

The endearing madness of World of Tanks' Ural Steel 2012
Videogamer.com
Only in our current late-generational state can the industry house such a breakout project that goes virtually unnoticed, and it's one that entertains a daily audience that easily eclipses the opening weekend of almost every boxed video game released ...

GAME BYTES: On EA's 'NBA Live 13' cancellation
Tuscaloosa News
In case you missed it, that's the second time in three years that EA Sports has canceled its flagship basketball game, which makes this the second consecutive cancellation in the series. It previously attempted to rebrand “NBA Live” into “NBA Elite ...

Microsoft taps Kinect to create first 3D scan of Sir Isaac Newton
The Next Web
Video game developers are desperately trying to figure out how to use the Xbox Kinect peripheral in a way that isn't utterly laughable. Or, in a way that just isn't Kinect Star Wars, at least. At the same time however, the hacking, modding and ...

Asia's virtual masters eye Zynga's real lunch
Toronto Sun
The corporate logo of Zynga Inc, the social network game development company, is shown at its headquarters in San Francisco in this April 26, 2012 file photo. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/Files. Tweet. Change ... SAN FRANCISCO - A decade ago, a developer ...

New Tomb Raider Developer Video Released
We Got This Covered
Hosted by Zachary Levi, the video features interviews with various members of thegame's staff, including writer Rhianna Pratchett and Lara Croft's new voice actress Camilla Luddington. Discussion includes the developers' aim to deliver an immersive,...

We Got This Covered

First Proper 'True Skate' Gameplay Video Released
Touch Arcade
Once the mechanics start to click the game just opens up as you get lost skating around the park and trying whatever pops into your mind. True Skate is really close to submission now, so keep your eye out for more from it in the very near future and be ...

Touch Arcade

Discover Your Own Path to Revenge in Latest Dishonored Video
PlayStation LifeStyle
You'll have to wait until next week to read up on our final verdict on the game, but in the meantime, the developer has released a brand-new video titled “Path to Revenge.” Get your clicker finger ready, because this trailer is loaded with interactive ...

PlayStation LifeStyle

Skyrim: Hearthfire expands to PC with Steam release
Examiner.com
Bethesda Softworks Marketing VP Pete Hines has repeatedly stated on his Twitter account that thedevelopers are still trying to find a solution for the performance issues the game has on Sony's console. The last official status from Bethesda was that a ...

Gaming the budget, and kids' opinions?
The Times of Israel
“Where's the Money?,” a video game produced by the Finance Ministry, allows students to step into the shoes of the finance minister and attempt to pass a state budget. But many parents, having seen their kids nearly always fail in the game to present a ...

SA's biggest gaming expo kicks off in Johannesburg
IT News Africa
rAge, South Africa's biggest video game and electronics expo, kicks off today in Johannesburg, and gamers from around the country will get the opportunity to see some of the latest games and future releases. With tickets for NAG LAN ... Nintendo's line ...

RIM's plan to court gamers with BlackBerry 10
Financial Post
Still, it remains to be seen how game developers embrace BlackBerry 10 and what the selection of games will look like when the platform finally launches — developers can begin submitting applications to RIM's App World later this month. In a recent ...

Financial Post

Meet EEDAR: The Consulting Group That Proves Reviews Do Matter
Side Mission
The Penny Arcade Report has just published a fascinating look at EEDAR, a consulting group that specializes in video games and how to sell them. EEDAR will do everything from create mock reviews of your game to analyze your game ideas and tell you just ...

Side Mission

Warframe The Warframes Video Dev Diary
Gamers Hell
Set in an evolving sci-fi world, the game introduces the Tenno, a race on the brink of extinction after being enslaved by the Grineer for centuries. Players enter Warframe on the cusp of the Grineer's victory over the Tenno until they begin to arm ...

Atlus and Kalypso join forces to publish Dark, Omerta, more in NA
Joystiq
Port Royale 3 is a trading empire-building game set during the heyday of piracy in a realistically rendered version of the 17th century Caribbean; it will ship on October 9, 2012 for the Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft ...

Farmers who are also video game developers - Giant Bomb
Tokyo Jungle · Review: For a game that sounds like the setup for a bad SyFy film, Tokyo Jungle is a... Any other video game developers who are also farmers?
www.giantbomb.com/forums/general.../30/.../562942/

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