USA Today reports that Former Connecticut guard Tate George has admitted in a deposition taken last year that avatars in several versions of a video game that are supposed to represent him do not resemble him at all and were used multiple times to represent other players in the game. George is one of several former NCAA players suing the NCAA and EA Sports for illegally using their likenesses. The group of players are trying to get certified as a class.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has been a vocal critic of the House's Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) since it was reintroduced earlier this year and then passed by a large margin, so it should come as no shock that the organization's Anti-Censorship and Social Issues Committee has issued a statement applauding the Senate's stall of the bill and the President's promise to veto it in its current form.

Aliens: Colonial Marines publisher Sega and developer Gearbox Software have responded to a class action lawsuit filed this week related to claims that the game was the falsely advertised.

A Sega spokesperson said that the company could not discuss the specifics of the ongoing litigation, and that the lawsuit was baseless:

Damion Perrine has filed a lawsuit against Sega related to Aliens: Colonial Marines, which he claims Sega represented falsely in its marketing as a far superior game than was delivered to consumers. He claims Sega engaged in "a classic bait-and-switch" with the game and that it also engaged in false advertising, breach of warranties, fraud in the inducement, negligent misrepresentation and committed consumer law violations. He is seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class action and has sued on behalf of everyone in the United States who bought the game on or before Feb.

Responding to a bill proposed by New Jersey state Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union) that would ban "mature" rated games from use in public spaces, Christopher Ferguson, a Professor of psychology at Texas A&M, told NBC that the bill is a typical waste of taxpayer money that capitalizes on a national tragedy to support a war against culture.

An 18-year-old Oxford man (Thomas Frongillo) has been arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot up Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts. He was released on $50,000 bail after his arraignment in Western Worcester District Court in East Brookfield. Frongillo who is studying criminal justice at Anna Maria and is currently in the police academy there.

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has made it out of its markup hearing in the House by a vote of 18-2. That means that the bill could be voted on by the full House on the floor as soon as next week. Worst still members of the committee overwhelmingly voted down an amendment that would have added some privacy provisions into the bill.

Watchdog and online advocacy group the Center for Democracy and Technology says that the new cyber security bill makes its way through Congress is so badly written that it effectively authorize hacking.

California state regulators want video games and other devices to be more energy efficient and are making some moves towards creating regulations, according to an LA Times report. The state has in the past put strict regulations in place for household appliances, furnaces, air conditioners and big-screen televisions to use less energy.

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund points out a new two-part report produced by the Hartford Courant and PBS that reveals how video games continue to be part of the ongoing narrative of the police investigation into the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting that occurred in Newtown Connecticut in December of last year.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) in cooperation with California Attorney General Kamala Harris and education technology company EverFi have announced a new online educational program for Los Angeles public high schools. Called "The ESA Digital Living Project, the new program will be powered by EverFi's education technology. The goal is to help educate students in L.A. using technology, instructional designs, simulations, and other forms of complimentary media.

The San Francisco Chronicle offers an in-depth article on how video games have been drawn into the discussion on gun violence featuring quotes from California State Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) , IGDA Executive Director executive director, and Ian Bogost, professor of interactive computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

A Kickstarter for a space in Los Angeles where independent developers can get together is being pitched today as the "LA Game Space." The idea of the project - should it get the $250,000 in funding organizers are asking for - is to transform an old warehouse in the Arts District of Los Angeles and turn it into a hot spot for game design and independent titles. They plan on hosting workshops, exhibitions, research labs, public events with guest speakers, and space where indie game makers can set up shop. Think of it as a sort of indie game commune, if you will.

Indie game studio Checkpoint has filed a lawsuit against Japanese publisher Marvelous AQL in a California court claiming that the company tried to initiate a hostile takeover and steal its employees in order to avoid a $2.5 million payment. The news comes from an extensive report on the case over at Gamasutra.

A federal judge has dealt a class action lawsuit filed in early 2012 against Sony several blows that have seriously hindered their plans to take Sony to task for the 2011 security breach on the PlayStation Network, Qriocity, and Sony Online Entertainment.

Zynga has settled its trademark infringement lawsuit against French game development studio Kobojo, according to Gamasutra. Zynga sued the company for using the "Ville" suffix on its game PyramidVille - an action it took against plenty of other developers for including Dungeonville developer Night Owl. Zynga filed its lawsuit in May of this year, but PyramidVille originally released on Facebook 15 months before Zynga took the developer to court.

While employees of OnLive felt the most immediate sting on Friday when the company announced mass staff layoffs, other entities involved with the cloud-based game streaming service felt their investments of time and money disappear like a building at a David Copperfield show in Vegas. Too bad that it wasn't an illusion.

A hearing was held on Tuesday in a Los Angeles courtroom for the Axl Rose Guitar Hero lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. The Guns N' Roses lead singer was featured in Guitar Hero III alongside band member Slash, which agitated Rose to no end. The court hearing delivered mixed results for Rose as he tried to move forward with his $20 million lawsuit against the publisher of the game.

The Kickstarter for the OUYA has ended, with organizers of the crowd funding round raking in a final amount of $8,596,475 from 63,416 backers. Organizers were originally aiming for $900,000.

Update: The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) issued the following statement shortly after hearing the news that the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 had failed to secure enough votes to get by a filibuster in the Senate:

While details are still a bit sketchy, an Oakley, California teen has been arrested for attempted murder after an altercation while playing a video game online turned to real-world violence. The incident occurred on Monday afternoon after two friends - an unnamed twenty-year-old man and a seventeen-year-old boy got into an altercation. According to Jimmy Lee from the Costa County Sheriff's Department, the two men were playing an unnamed video game online, which led to an argument about something.

Today Sauropod Studio pitched its game Castle Story to the public for some much needed funding on Kickstarter. In the early hours of the campaign, the game has already met its goal. Sauropod Studios was looking to raise $80,000 to bring the game to the PC and Mac, but with the help of 3,348 backers it has already raised $95,055. If you watch the video (embedded to your left) you will quickly understand why this project has gotten early buzz.

Jury selection for the trial between Samsung and Apple over patents will begin on July 30 in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, California. The case will be presided over by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh. Jurors will have to wade through the particulars of the case and decide which company has a valid claim that the other infringed on its patents related to their respective smartphone devices.

A class action lawsuit claims that the adult entertainment industry has found a new business model to earn money: threatening alleged illegal downloaders with an embarrassing and very public lawsuit if they do not settle out of court. The lead plaintiff in the case is Jennifer Barker. Her lawsuit names Patrick Collins Inc., Malibu Media, K-Beech, Third Degree Films, and London-based Raw Films.

According to a post on The Hill privacy groups remain unimpressed with efforts to draft a revised version of the SECURE IT Act. Senate Republicans released a revised version of their cybersecurity bill on Wednesday, but privacy groups shrugged off the changes as minor.

GamesBeat is reporting that SimCity and The Sims creator Will Wright's young company HiveMind has been stalled by litigation between the founders of the company. Wright's gaming start-up hoped to realize the concept of "personal gaming" where the studio's designers would use demographic data to create personal gaming experiences for individuals rather than the masses.

City National Bank has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Konami and developer Autumn Games for allegedly defrauding the financial institution of money it is owed related to a $15 million line of credit. City National Bank claims that Konami and Autumn Games defrauded it of $15 million in credit for the development of Def Jam Rapstar. They also alleged that both parties "lied" to the bank in order to secure the credit line, promising to pay it back with the sales of the game.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken has shot down an Electronic Arts request to have a major class action lawsuit against it dismissed. According to a Courthouse News report (see also this PDF) the lawsuit filed by former National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes accusing EA of using their likenesses without providing them with any compensation will go forward.

In March of last year the state of Illinois decided to pass a law that collected Internet sales tax from online companies like Amazon.com and eBay. Commonly referred to as an "affiliate nexus tax," the law passed by Illinois and other states including California, Connecticut, and New York, required online retailers who advertised on "affiliate sites" that had a physical presence in the same state to collect sales tax. The Illinois law had broad support among lawmakers and the state’s governor, Gov. Pat Quinn (D).

A California mother is suing Facebook claiming that the company is allowing minors to make purchases via in-game micro-transactions and that allowing this to happen without parental consent violates California's consumer protection laws.