by Rainier on April 7, 2009 @ 12:56 p.m. PDT | Filed under
News
Section 8 is a futuristic FPS that brings strategy and tactics to the genre in a game where players can modify the battlefield on the fly. You are part of an elite infantry squad with a penchant for taking on suicide missions that no one else will tackle. Last year TimeGate settled an Section 8 trademark infringement
dispute with ABC Studios over an upcoming Section 8 TV series, and now it has
filed suit against Paramount for calling off negotiations and then announcing its own Section 8 interactive web series.
by Rainier on April 6, 2009 @ 2:44 p.m. PDT | Filed under
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The Entertainment Consumers Association announced the promotion of Jennifer Mercurio, formerly Director of Government Affairs, to the newly created position of Vice President and General Counsel where she will oversee all legal, policy, research, advocacy, action, lobbying, and government affairs for ECA.
by Rainier on March 25, 2009 @ 11:57 a.m. PDT | Filed under
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Live the life of a law enforcement officer tasked with saving the world in Hudson Entertainment’s new release Miami Law, featuring explosive action, as well as crime-scene investigation, which players will use interchangeably to help save the city of Miami.
by Rainier on March 16, 2009 @ 7:56 p.m. PDT | Filed under
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U.S. District Court judge Leonard Davis has dismissed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Nintendo (and similarly against Microsoft) brought by Fenner Investments, which alleged that the Wii and its controllers, as well as the GameCube, infringed on one of its patents.
by Rainier on March 2, 2009 @ 7:33 p.m. PST | Filed under
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Last year Gibson, one of the exclusive partners of the Guitar Hero franchise, filed a lawsuit
against Activision,
EA/MTV Games and
various retailers, claiming the game infringed on its 1999 patent for technology simulating a live performance using a musical instrument. Activision countersued, asking the U.S. District Court of California to declare Gibson's patent invalid and to bar it from seeking damages, and last Thursday, the U.S. District Court of Central California
did just that.
by Rainier on Feb. 26, 2009 @ 11:10 a.m. PST | Filed under
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Live the life of a law enforcement officer tasked with saving the world in Hudson Entertainment’s new release Miami Law, featuring explosive action, as well as crime-scene investigation, which players will use interchangeably to help save the city of Miami.
by Rainier on Feb. 7, 2009 @ 1:00 p.m. PST | Filed under
News
In June of last year, Anthony Puzo, son of The Godfather author Mario Puzo, sued Paramount Pictures for $1 million in damages for breach of contract over unpaid revenue from EA's video game adaptation of the movie trilogy.
Reports have it that Paramount has now settled the case out of court with the plaintiff, although no terms were revealed.
by Rainier on Dec. 17, 2008 @ 6:09 a.m. PST | Filed under
News
Nintendo of America and Nyko Technologies announced they have settled a lawsuit brought by Nintendo regarding Nintendo’s intellectual property rights relating to its popular Nunchuk controller and Nyko's identical looking Kama wireless controller.
by Rainier on Nov. 20, 2008 @ 1:54 a.m. PST | Filed under
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Last month THQ filed a lawsuit with the US District Court of Central California against Activision, claiming the SCORE International Baja 1000 box cover was too similar to its own BAJA title released the month before, and now the two companies have
settled the case out of court with Activision admitting something was afoot as it has changed the official retail box to something not so identical.
by Rainier on Nov. 10, 2008 @ 12:49 p.m. PST | Filed under
News
Back in Sept. Maryland resident Melissa Thomas filed a $5 million class action lawsuit against EA in regard Spore's intrusive DRM policies. According to
GamePolitics two more suits have been filed, one revolving "the inclusion of undisclosed, secretly installed DRM protection measures with a program that was freely distributed" (the Spore demo), and the other by a Sims player calling it "immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous," stating that it causes all sort of computer problems that were not there before.
by Rainier on Oct. 14, 2008 @ 6:41 a.m. PDT | Filed under
News
The ESA praised Congress for passing and the President for signing into law the “Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008," which will enhance the ability of U.S. law enforcement to address serious intellectual property crimes and prosecute international violations.
by Rainier on Aug. 5, 2008 @ 3:06 p.m. PDT | Filed under
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The state of California today reimbursed the ESA $282,794 for attorney’s fees after the state attempted to defend an unconstitutional law restricting the constitutional rights of video game publishers, developers and consumers.
by Rainier on July 29, 2008 @ 2:36 p.m. PDT | Filed under
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Nintendo filed suit in the Tokyo District Court against several companies that sell DS flash cart units (R4 Revolution / CycloDS Evolution), which allow homebrew material but are also used to load pirated games. According to Japanese news service
Nikkei Net, Nintendo did not fly solo, as it was joined by 54 other companies such as Capcom, JNH Co., Sega. SNK and Square Enix. While Nintendo has sold in excess of 70 million NDSes, it claims that piracy cost the company, and its partners, $1 billion in 2007.
by Rainier on July 22, 2008 @ 9:38 a.m. PDT | Filed under
News
GameInvest unveiled the summer’s hottest legal team in its newest title, Defenders of Law, Inc.: Crime in Willburg, a puzzle-based crime drama where players piece together clues and compile evidence in order to solve a murder mystery.
by Rainier on July 2, 2008 @ 4:53 p.m. PDT | Filed under
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When Activision announced last year that it would merge with Vivendi Games not all its shareholders were in agreement with the $18.9 billion deal. Wayne County Employees' Retirement System filed a preliminary injunction which has now been denied by the Delaware Court of Chancery, so the merger can move forward.
by Rainier on June 25, 2008 @ 3:58 p.m. PDT | Filed under
News
People who were offended by the sexual content of
last year's Hot Coffee mod could receive between $5 and $35 restitution if they joined
the class action lawsuit. Even though the main stream media widely reported on the matter and various politicians joined the crusade, only 2,676 people signed on for the settlement, according
The New York Times. Initially Take Two was facing $2.75 million in fines, but with the small turnout the publisher is only looking at $30,000. On the other hand, the various lawyers involved in the filing are seeking $1.3 million in legal fees.
by Rainier on June 18, 2008 @ 7:00 p.m. PDT | Filed under
News
After Team Ninja's
Tomonobu Itagaki resigned, and revealed he was filing a lawsuit against Tecmo for outstanding payments, rumors started flying that
dozens of additional employees left and similarly filed suit. Tecmo issued a statement saying the rumors are false and, that it only two employees, while it is currently in the process of resolving outstanding compensations to its staff.
by Rainier on May 16, 2008 @ 2:58 p.m. PDT | Filed under
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Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed into law the 2008 Entertainment Industry Investment Act (HB 1100), new legislation designed to encourage entertainment industry productions such as qualified films, TV series, commercials, music videos, and video game productions, in Georgia.
by Rainier on May 15, 2008 @ 6:22 a.m. PDT | Filed under
News
Back in 2006 Texas based Anascape Ltd. filed suit against Nintendo and Microsoft for infringing on one of its patents (3D controller with vibration) it had filed in 2000. While Microsoft immediately settled out of court, Nintendo decided to go all the way and fight the lawsuit. Now Federal court has ruled in favor of Anascape and awarded it a settlement of $21 million. Nintendo plans to file an appeal in order to reduce the penalty.
by Rainier on April 17, 2008 @ 7:07 p.m. PDT | Filed under
News
Section 8 is a futuristic FPS that brings strategy and tactics to the genre in a game where players can modify the battlefield on the fly. In Section 8 you are part of an elite infantry squad with a penchant for taking on suicide missions. TimeGate Studios has reached a settlement in its trademark infringement dispute with ABC Studios over an upcoming Section 8 TV series.
by Rainier on March 24, 2008 @ 1:06 p.m. PDT | Filed under
News
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 adds new gameplay features and stunning visuals, players will encounter a solo campaign that uses new tactical possibilities in various locations around Sin City, co-op and adversarial modes. Ever since the game's launch PS3 owners have been
unable to enjoy multiplayer, and Ubisoft
so far only said it is looking into the matter. One forum user revealed that "his uncle's lawfirm" has
been hired to sue Ubisoft for releasing a product not as advertised.
Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is a fully animated interactive adventure, allowing players will step into the shiny wingtips of Harvey Birdman, a third-rate superhero turned third-rate defense attorney charged with exonerating parodied classic cartoon characters.
by Rainier on March 17, 2008 @ 11:04 a.m. PDT | Filed under
News
The Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) and the Agencia Federal de Investigacion (AFI) recently raided four facilities involved in burning pirate copies of video games in the notorious Tepito area in Mexico City, seizing roughly 290 DVD/CD burners, 28,800 illegal copies of video games and more than 900,000 video game cover inserts.
by Rainier on Feb. 27, 2008 @ 3:42 a.m. PST | Filed under
News
The Wayne County Employees' Retirement System has filed lawsuit against the not yet officially formed Activision and Vivendi merger, according to the
Delaware Online web site. The local investment group claims that its Activision shares will turn into an unfavorable minority position after the two publishers/developers become one entity (
thanks FiringSquad).
by Rainier on Feb. 26, 2008 @ 8:32 p.m. PST | Filed under
News
A few weeks ago Capcom filed a preemptive lawsuit against MKR Group, producer of 1979's George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead, to avoid being sued over the similarities between the two properties. However MKR
filed complaint in U.S. District Court in New York claiming both products are "dark comedies," that "the recreational activities of the zombies and absurdly grotesque 'kill scenes' provide unexpected comedic relief," as well as "Both works provided thoughtful social commentary on the 'mall culture' zeitgeist, in addition to serving up a sizable portion of sensationalistic violence." To be continued ...