A wanted fugitive in Lee County, Florida, was having problems supporting his drug habit. So he hit his local Wal-Mart and tried to leave the store with a bunch of Nintendo DS games that he hoped to sell for some heroin, according to a news report.

A News-Press story said  Daniel Larson, 32, tried to leave the Cape Coral store with about $120 in games stuffed in his pants and shoes. He pushed a loss prevention officer who confronted him, but was subdued. The little shopping jaunt brought charges of violating pretrial supervision, larceny, resisting a property recovery retail merchant, using a false identification that adversely affects others, forgery of a public record certificate and violating parole.

Apparently the theft was one of his milder crimes, as his rap sheet included armed robbery and kidnapping. He had gotten out of an arrest on Sept. 5 using a fake ID.

The story goes into a few details on Lee County's booking procedures and Wilma Flintstone is mentioned. Gotta love some of today's legal procedures.

Is your handheld game system making you lonely?

Rika Kayama, a Japanese psychiatrist, thinks that it may be.

In an op-ed penned for a Japanese newspaper, Kayama claims that Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP are partially to blame for a sense of isolation experienced by some of her youthful patients. On that score, Kayama writes:

Today’s youth immerse themselves in worlds of their own right before our eyes, where they can live secluded from the rest of us. Feeding into these one person worlds, personal devices such as mobile phones and handheld game systems like the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS come on to the market one after another.

The ‘make your own world anywhere’ idea has gone too far, to the point that even on the train one sees people shamelessly putting on makeup or eating cups of instant noodles as though the train carriage was their own room. …

I feel that an increasing number of people are coming to my office saying, ‘Even when I’m in a crowd I’m lonely.’ Even when they are at a popular singer’s concert or when reading a best-selling novel, these patients can’t feel any solidarity for those next to them or those reading the same book.

GP: Is Kayama onto something, or is she simply rehashing the old school notion that games are inherently isolating?

Via: What They Play

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars has been tagged with a "Z" rating (adults only) for the Japanese market, reports Siliconera:

All of the Grand Theft Auto games have been rated CERO Z so this isn’t really a shocker. However, Chinatown Wars will be the first Nintendo DS game with the rating and the second CERO Z game on a Nintendo platform. Killer 7 from Capcom is the other CERO Z rated game on Nintendo hardware.

CERO is the Japanese equivalent of the ESRB.

Via: Kotaku

A leading copyright enforcement official in Japan has likened individuals who pirate Nintendo DS games to terrorists.

tech.radar reports that Yutaka Kubota (left), who heads Japan's Association of Copyright for Computer Software, made the comment to Famitsu magazine:

This is an issue that affects our national interests and, personally, I see it as a form of information terrorism that is crushing Japan's industry.

tech.radar also notes that Kubota's organization has close ties to Nintendo. The DS manufacturer claims that 120 million bootleg copies of DS games were downloaded through the end of 2007. Such activity is not illegal in Japan, but pending legislation would make such downloading a crime.

Sales of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars have been a major disappointment, according to Silicon Alley Insider.

Citing data released yesterday by NPD group, SAI reports that only 88,704 units of the critically-acclaimed DS game were purchased in March. Published estimates by video game industry analysts had suggested that GTA: Chinatown Wars would sell in the 200,000 - 450,000 range:

So how did Take-Two flub a sure thing? Chinatown Wars was built for the wrong console. The title -- whose gameplay centers around drug dealing, cold-blooded murder, and sex -- is only available on the Nintendo DS, who's primary audience is children. Parents refused to let their kids play, and the adult DS audience just isn't that big...

 

Chinatown Wars may yet find life down the road, but all in all a rare misstep from Take-Two. And the winner here might actually be Sony (SNE): The Chinatown Wars disaster will likely scare other publishers away from making new adult-themed games for the Nintendo DS. Some may redirect efforts towards Sony's PSP, which targets a somewhat older crowd.

Reacting to the poor numbers put up by GTA:CW, Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz reduced earnings estimates for Publisher Take-Two Interactive:

What Happened? Take-Two exported their most valuable IP onto the most widely distributed gaming platform, and created the most highly-rated title in the history of that platform...

 

The disappointing first month sales reinforce our view that achieving meaningful success on Nintendo platforms remains a very difficult proposition for third party publishers.

Issues such as the recession, healthcare and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are likely to keep President Barack Obama's attention away from video games, said Reggie Fils-Aime (left).

The Nintendo of America chief also believes that the video game industry is in a better position politically than it has been in the past.

Fils-Aime made his comments during a wide-ranging interview with GameDaily:

We have the first sitting president with a multiple gaming household, between the Wii and the DS. I believe that our president has more pressing issues to deal with, from the economy to the military conflicts.

 

Certainly, as an industry, we've met with representatives of Congress and other parts of our government. What they see is an industry that is mainstream, is creating jobs and is creating vibrant forms of entertainment. Those are all positive things for this country. So we are in a more favorable legislative environment compared to five or six years ago.

In the aftermath of this month's horrific Winnenden school shooting, criticism of violent video games in Germany has hit a fever pitch.

Although there are no details on the origin of this photo, it appears to show an extra age warning label slapped onto Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Germany's official USK label can be seen at lower left.

Are German retailers doubling up on age warnings?

Via: GoNintendo

Thanks to: Sharp-eyed GamePolitics correspondent Andrew Eisen...

The release of GTA Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS is a defining moment for video games, writes Seth Schiesel of the New York Times.

While video games have been incorporating more mature themes for at least a decade, the NYT's game critic views the arrival of Grand Theft Auto on the generally kid-centric handheld as a definitive statement that the medium is no longer for children only.

What makes [GTA Chinatown Wars] so significant is the system it has been made for, Nintendo’s hand-held DS... [so far] the DS has found its most fervent customers among children.

Yet like “Scarface,” “Goodfellas” and other gangster movies, Chinatown Wars is definitely not for children. Recent Grand Theft Auto games go quite a bit further in their references to hedonism (some might call it depravity) than almost anything coming out of Hollywood...

With Rockstar making Chinatown Wars exclusively for the DS, and with Nintendo approving the game for its system, the two companies are making a bold and vital statement to the public. Chinatown Wars is likely to force many to realize that just because something is called a video game does not mean it is appropriate for children...

 

This is a crucial moment in the maturation of both the game industry and in the mass public conception of what a game is and can be. In just the last few years games have gone from the whipping boy of politicians to a somewhat grudgingly accepted element of popular culture. But there is still a long way to go...

On Monday we reported on the story of a five-year-old French lad who allegedly stabbed his 10-year-old sister over a Nintendo DS.

We've now learned that the initial media reports were false and that it was the children's mother who actually stabbed her daughter. Long-time GamePolitics reader Soldat Louis offers the update:

In fact, the 10-year-old girl was stabbed, but NOT by her 5-years-old brother. She was stabbed by her mother ! And, of course, it wasn't because of a Nintendo DS.

According to what I read, the daughter was examined by a surgeon, who said that it was impossible that such a young boy could hurt someone so deeply. Then, the investigators talked to the children, and the daughter told them that she was stabbed by her mother, who finally confessed that she did it. She was apparently upset by the noise made by her children.

Soldat Louis reports that the best (French language) coverage of the incident comes from AFP.

We haven't seen any English language coverage of this yet, but always-reliable European reader Soldat Louis has forwarded us this report of an incident which apparently occurred yesterday in the small French village of Uckange:

A 5-year-old boy stabbed his 10-year-old sister because she didn't want to give him her Nintendo DS. Her mother, who has sole custody of the children, was sleeping at the time and was alerted by her daughter's screams.

The girl is still at the hospital, but she's not in mortal danger. The boy is aware of what he's done. He said to the police that his sister didn't want to give hime her Nintendo DS, and that he thought the knife was a toy. I've also read that he apparently likes the game "Power Rangers", in which the characters (alledgely) throw knives.

The mother of the 2 children has been raising them since the father abandoned them and fled to Albania. According to her, he was violent to the point of hitting her. She works at night to raise her children, and while she's at work, her brother and her niece babysit them.

Bowing to a request from Nintendo, the government of Japan has outlawed sales of the R4 flash cart, reports PocketGamer:

Among other uses - some of which are legitimate - the R4 allows the playing of pirated games on the Nintendo DS handheld:

To be fair to Nintendo, one of the most prominent uses of DS flash carts is indeed piracy, though such a ham-fisted pursuit of a device that's also used to unlock the console's potential won't do it any favours in the technophile arena.

And right now, cutting off a passionate hardware customer base (on the dawn of a new system release) isn't a particularly wise move for a games system that, it has to be said, is wilting in the sun of a changing industry.

We'll have to wait and see how this Japanese ruling affects the rest of the world, but for the time being Japanese DS gamers are going to have to look elsewhere for their homebrew DS apps.

At least two public officials are under scrutiny after purchases of video game products with tax dollars.

In Louisiana, Monroe City Schools Superintendent James Dupree (left) has been called on to explain using his business credit card to purchase a Nintendo DS and two games for $195 at a local GameStop last November.

The News-Star reports that, along with the DS, Dupree bought copies of SAT/ACT Coach and Brain Age Training. In a response to the newspaper's request for records, Dupree wrote:

All items were purchased to pilot their usability for SAT/ACT prep and recall skill building in relation to performance target objective No. 1.

Dupree said yesterday that the DS and games are sitting in his office as he has not yet found the time to use them. After checking them out himself, he plans to pass them along to a student.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Michael Gobb, former executive director of the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, has resigned following a spending probe. The state Auditor General's office found more than $500,000 in questionable expenditures by airport execs, including a $4,400 tab at a strip club as well as multiple Nintendo Wii bundles.

Earlier this week GamePolitics reported on an Indiana mother's complaint that her daughter's Baby Pals game for the Nintendo DS uttered the phrase "Islam is the light."

We asked Crave Entertainment, which publishes Baby Pals, to comment on the claims, which mirror a similar controversy involving a Fisher-Price doll last autumn.

We've just received a response from Crave's Marketing Director, Doug Panter:

In creating the Nintendo DS game “Baby Pals”, the game developer Brain Toys / InXile used sounds files to simulate the life like baby noises and babbling.  The sounds are publicly available for license.  It is a recording of a 5 month old baby babbling non-intelligible phrases.  In over 200 hours of testing the product, no recognizable English words or phrases were discernable.  

The sound in question of this babble may sound like the words night, right or light, but it is only coincidence as the baby recorded was too young to pronounce these words let alone a whole grammatically correct phrase.

We at Crave Entertainment and InXile regret that there was any misinterpretation of the baby noises and in no way have intentionally put any words or phrases into the baby sounds.

We hope this eases any concerns and fans continue to enjoy playing the game.

GP: Crave's explanation that it licensed the baby talk sound file helps make sense of how "Islam is the Light" plagued the Little Mommy Cuddle and Coo doll as well. Fisher-Price probably licensed the same audio.

GameCulture reports on the strange case of an Indiana mother who has complained that her 8-year-old daughter's Baby Pals game for the Nintendo DS speaks the phrase "Islam is the light."

Readers may recall that a remarkably similar controversy last fall centered around Fisher-Price's Little Mommy Cuddle and Coo doll. And, in fact, the mother in this case, Rachel Jones, was also one of those who complained about her child's Cuddle and Coo doll.

In regard to the doll controversy, Mattel issued a statement in October which said that the only scripted word was "mama" and other baby talk sounds were gibberish.

Urban Legends reports that an audio expert experimented with the Cuddle and Coo doll and found that the phrase most closely sounded like "It's not near the light."

In fairness, the sound uttered by the DS game sounds exactly like the one that caused so much controversy in regard to the doll. We're wondering if Crave, publisher of Baby Pals, somehow licensed the same digitized audio file.

GP: So, is this a case of anti-Islamic paranoia or subtle indoctrination of America's youth? What do you think, GP readers?

A French researcher has discounted Nintendo's claims that playing DS titles such as Brain Age and Big Brain Academy can improve memory.

The Times Online reports comments by cognitive psychology Prof. Alain Lieury (left) of the University of Rennes:

The Nintendo DS is a technological jewel. As a game it's fine. But it is charlatanism to claim that it is a scientific test.

Lieury studied four goups of 10-year-old children as they worked on logic problems, memorization, math and interpreting symbols. Two of the groups which had completed a seven-week memory course using the DS did no better - and in some cases, worse - than those who did not use the DS.

While Ryuta Kawashima, the creator of Brain Age, claims positive effects from playing the game on Nintendo's website, Lieury dismisses Japanese neuroscientist's assertions:

There were few positive effects [shown in Lieury's research] and they were weak. Dr Kawashima is one of a long list of dream merchants.

Cabin fever has taken its toll on Bob's Game, apparently.

Robert Pelloni, the indie DS developer who promised to barricade himself in a locked room for 100 days unless Nintendo agreed to sell him its official DS software development kit, has ended his protest after just 30 days.

A post on his Bob's Game site indicates that his self-imposed isolation became too much to bear. He has ended his vigil with a lengthy anti-Nintendo screed. A photo from his webcam (left) seems to indicate that his workspace has been trashed:

It was foolish of me to think Nintendo would hear my pleas. They're just another heartless corporation... The core gamers don't matter anymore. It's not about the games or the fans, it's about spreading out and getting casual gamers to buy Wii Fit.

The golden days of video games are long gone...

I've had enough. I'm ending the protest. I give up on getting the SDK. I really tried my best. Show's over. It's just not going to work. Sorry, everyone. I just can't stay in here. My head won't stop pounding. I feel like I'm losing my mind. It's like I'm splitting in half. I keep seeing these posts that I apparently wrote, but I can't remember writing them. I'm afraid I'm becoming someone else entirely.

Nobody even takes me seriously anymore- how is Nintendo supposed to? Everyone thinks it's some kind of viral ad. It's obviously not. I'm one guy that can't get a break. Don't you think that maybe I might get a little angry being locked in here for a month with no response? ...I know I lost. I've been completely disgraced and humiliated... My head hurts, so I'm ending this post. Sorry, everybody. Whatever. Why does this HURT so much?!

GP: Pelloni's comments are somewhat disturbing. We wish him well.

No surprise here.

The British Board of Film Classification has assigned an 18 rating to the upcoming Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.

No edits to the game were required, although the BBFC issued warnings that GTA Chinatown Wars "contains very strong language and drug references".

The game is scheduled for a March 20th release in the UK.

UPDATE: GameSpot notes that the 18 rating assigned to GTA Chinatown Wars is the first ever assigned to a DS game by the BBFC. The game's rating for the North American market is not yet listed on the website of the ESRB.

An insurance company has sued Nintendo for $236,304, alleging that a faulty Nintendo DS AC adapter ignited a January, 2007 fire at a residence in Kentucky.

According to the complaint, the home owner was compensated for "substantial" fire damage by the Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Liberty Mutual is attempting to recover its costs from Nintendo. In addition to the $236K, the company seeks interest and court costs.

The suit, filed yesterday with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, notes that Nintendo previously conducted a product recall of DS units due to overheating issues. From the complaint:

The [DS] was defective in design, manufacture and/or because it failed to warn consumers as to dangers associated with it... due to defects existing within the Product which caused a risk of overheating and fire, the Product was recalled by Nintendo.

UPDATE: Download the complaint here.

While much has been made of the supposedly recession-proof video game industry, a Bloomberg report says that if you remove Nintendo from the mix, the economic picture for the rest of the industry sags considerably.

U.S. sales of games, players and accessories rose 10 percent to $2.91 billion in November, researcher NPD Group Inc. said last week. Nintendo, maker of the Wii console, accounted for almost three-fourths of the growth, leaving the rest of the industry with a gain of 3 percent or less...

“If you’re worried about your job, are you going to buy a $400 PS3?” said Mike Hickey, an analyst for Janco Partners in Greenwood Village, Colorado. “Christmas is not going to have the same glow.”

The Wii, outselling PS3 and Xbox together by almost 2-1, also is having an impact in software. Five of the top 10 titles last month were for the Nintendo player...

 

The company also is leading in sales of handheld devices. Consumers purchased 1.57 million DS machines last month, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier, according to NPD. Sony’s sales of 421,000 PSP players were down 26 percent from last year.

GP: Bloomberg makes sense on this one. After all, EA is hurting. Sony is a disaster right now. Midway's future beyond January 31st is questionable. NCsoft has cut back. And they're not the only companies that are hurting.

Last week GamePolitics reported on a bizarre incident in which more than a dozen prominent game journalists were sent Animal Crossing: Wild World Nintendo DS cartridges which contained a racial slur.

MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo, who broke the story, reports that he subsequently queried used game seller GameStop and the ESRB as to whether the Animal Crossing incident exposes a flaw in the system whereby embedded user-generated content might exceed the content rating.

Both GameStop and the ESRB view the Animal Crossing episode as an anomaly and deny a larger problem. MTV's Totilo writes:

ESRB spokesperson Eliot Mizrachi, told me... “Just as with online-enabled games that allow features like chat, ESRB ratings cannot anticipate and therefore consider user-generated content in the ratings we assign,” he wrote. “Besides, as you mentioned, saving content to the actual game medium is pretty uncommon in today’s games. Most games are read-only with the saved content being stored on the system and not on the game medium itself.”...

The ESRB may not have much reason to worry that questionable content will make it to consumers because gaming chain GameStop claims to be scrubbing the content from re-sold games. Chris Olivera, spokesman for GameStop, told me in a phone interview that his company has a “proprietary” process that wipes consoles and games clean before they are sold back to consumers...

GP: GameStop and the ESRB make a good case here. It's important to remember that the offending DS cart was not purchased through retail channels, but rather was mailed out by Nintendo's own PR department.