Spoiler Warning: Leaked footage of Modern Warfare 2 showcased a playable art of terrorism; in where the player would shoot innocent civilians in an airport. Activision has since explained the propose of the scene stating that it’s “designed to evoke the atrocities of terrorism”.

However, those that aren’t sure they can handle the scene, they’ve revealed that the scene is completely skippable. “At the beginning of the game, players encounter a mandatory ‘checkpoint’ in which they are warned that an upcoming segment may contain disturbing elements and they can choose not to engage in the gameplay that involves this scene,” an Activision spokesperson told IGN.

This means that players can “opt-out” of the level entirely – we won’t know for sure until MW2 releases in November . However, Activision has made it clear that “[this] is not representative of the overall gameplay experience in [MW2]“, meaning that this will be the only time you’ll be killing citizens in the game.

Created & Written by: Jerry Bonner; Animation & Design by: Matt Garafalo; Technical Wizardry by: Joel Young; Narration by: George Filip; Music by: Blitz

This animated short was originally created back in March to be part of our “family” gaming show, GAME TIME! The basic idea behind the “‘Great Moments in Video Gaming” segment was to take a fun and/or historical glance back at the people, technology and ideas that shaped the interactive entertainment industry into what it is today. Important lessons are proffered during the course of these segment(s) but nothing is forced – everything is presented in an entertaining manner, much like “Sesame Street” or “The Electric Company,” so the viewers are learning without really knowing it…and (hopefully) having a good time doing it! The last thing we want to do is to be heavy handed or hit people over the head with what we are doing.

Initially, the Dreamcast wasn’t going to be the topic of our “pilot” piece. Since this was our debut show I, naturally, wanted to start at the beginning, so the 1961, MIT developed SPACEWAR! (considered by many to be the first, “true” video game) was my original choice of topic. But, after knocking it about for a bit, SPACEWAR! seemed somewhat obscure and not “sexy” enough of a subject for the pilot episode. So, after some additional thought on the matter, Sega’s Dreamcast was ultimately chosen as the topic for the big, GAME TIME! kickoff. And, with the help of my talented co-conspirators, I think the final result turned out to be a more than fitting “Swan Song” for Sega’s last hurrah in the console hardware market.

Looking back, it’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since 9/9/99. So much has happened to us as a nation, and to me personally, since that day. I won’t get into a laundry list of everything here, as it isn’t really pertinent, but I do vividly recall all the hype and hubbub surrounding the DC’s numerically savvy launch date. I wasn’t silly (or brave…) enough to get my Dreamcast on that first day, as I’m not a huge fan of sleeping outside on cold concrete or waiting in deathly looooong lines. I did, however, manage to score one about month later at a KB Toy store of all places. And I fell in love with that little, white machine as soon as I unboxed it and fired up my first gridiron battles of NFL 2K, then handed out several, chop-sockey beatdowns in Soul Calibur and topped my evening off by collecting an overabundance of gold rings in Sonic Adventure. Good, good times.

Since I was the defacto gamer in my family AND just dropped a pretty substantial amount of cash on the system (plus the games), my initial opinion of the Dreamcast was somewhat biased. I mean, I HAD to love it, right? I couldn’t justify the purchase otherwise. So, I took my alabaster baby (with that adorable, red curly-Q) over to my brother’s house that weekend to gauge his reaction and (tried) to get an unprejudiced estimation of the system as a whole. It was at this moment when I fully understood the power of the Dreamcast and the true “generational leap” that this system was.

As the intro/demo of Soul Calibur played on my brother’s TV, his eyes widened to almost comical proportions and his jaw grew slack. The only awestruck words he could manage were, “Holy shit, this is better than the arcades…”

True dat, my brother. True dat.

Please enjoy the video. I can truthfully say that it was a labor of love and a blast to make. Hopefully, we’ll get to do more at some point…

VIVA LA DREAMCAST!

~ Jerry Bonner

Jerry Bonner is a writer and journalist whose work has appeared in GQ, EGM, 1UP, What They Play, Yahoo!, Ars Technica, Game Focus Canada, Geeks of Doom and Game Stooge. He also worked for the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) for a time as the Senior Game Content Rater. He currently lives in Southern New Jersey with his wife and four children.

We all know that most Alcoholic drinks have a warning label that warns its users of the after affects that they may receive, like cancer or liver cancer. Now, picture this. A warning label on video games that says, “excessive exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior.” Well, it looks like you don’t have to picture it anymore because it now a reality.

According to ZergWatch, Congressman Joe Baca, a lead advocate in Congress on the issues of violence and sex in the media, introduced legislation that mandates all video games with a Electronics Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rating of Teen or higher should be sold with a health warning label. The warning label will read; “WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.”

“The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families, and to consumers – to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products,” said Rep. Baca. “They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. Meanwhile research continues to show a proven link between playing violent games and increased aggression in young people. American families deserve to know the truth about these potentially dangerous products.”

When Disney Interactive Studios purchased Climax Development many fans didn’t know what to think, even game developer Jason Avent dreaded a Mikey or Donald racing game, so what were we expected as fans? Well, it was more then what we had hoped for. Instead of some kind of extreme kid racing game, we got a game of pure amazement simply entitled, Pure. This game really does rip books on ATV games as this game ditches the standard dirt adds stunt tracks for a world of vista free fall tracks that can make you scream from the heights.

One of the key things that made this game what it is has to be the games semi-easy control system. This system is very easy to learn from both sides and the controls very from the A button for simple tracks, the B button for more advanced tricks and the Y button for some semi out of control pro-tricks. But, this depends on how high or low you fill out your trick bar by advancing your tricks, like A then B and so on.

The game also has this system called pre-load, which helps you boost up your score in the game. Well, not really because when I was playing the game I really didn’t see any real boost in my trick bar, but it did help me gain crazy air so that we can pull off more crazy tricks gaining us more trick points.

The game has three basic gameplay modes and they are races, sprints, and freestyle, but there, really is not any difference to the game modes other then the laps and time. All these are available online along with a new mode called free-ride, which gives racers a set amount of time to bet a score. Another cool thing in this game happens to bring it to the table is the game graphics system, which according to them uses instance rendering technology, which produces the smallest parts of the games environment in every frame of the game. But, this game still has some bugs. For one thing, I don’t know how I spotted this, but there is a little delay when you hit the water for the water parities to come up.

One coolest thing we found in the game has to be its campaign mode, which is called World Tour which gives you the ability to customize for ride. The game gives you 24 different opinions to change, which are the key parts to any ATV. This is a great thing because you can build your ride for any track making the track easier for you to play. You can also unlock parts for your ATV when you win or compete a mission or track.

Score: A

A very interesting listing has popped up on the official Entertainment Software Rating Board website. According to the listing, Rachet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty will be rated E10+, the game was an open secret which was revealed by PS3Fanboy . There was many signs which pointed to the game of being a PSN download, but yet it’s still unclear whether this will just an add-on to Ratchet & Clank Future or if it’s a game by it’s self.

The ESRB has rated Suikoden as a PSone Classics release for the PlayStation Store, the game was first revealed back in the 1996.

The Suikoden series was created, written, produced, and overseen by Yoshitaka Murayama, who left Konami near the end of Suikoden III’s development. Noritada Matsukawa took over as Senior Director of Suikoden III following Murayama’s departure. Suikoden IV was directed by Matsukawa as well but was produced by Junko Kawano, who was the chief designer in Suikoden 1.

[Text Source via Wiki]

Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo), the author of California’s law attempting to prohibit the sale of extremely violent video games to minors, today urged parents to avoid purchasing the latest graphically violent video game – Grand Theft Auto IV – scheduled for release on Tuesday, April 29. GTA IV, the newest in the ultra-violent video game series, is expected to be the year’s most popular game despite its rating of M for adult audiences.

"It is imperative that parents avoid purchasing this game for their children and always review the video games their children are playing," said Yee, who is also a child psychologist. "Unfortunately, the makers of Grand Theft Auto have a history of deceiving the ratings board and the public on the true content of their games. Parents beware: this game undoubtedly glorifies violence, is extremely realistic and designed for adults only."

In June 2005, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and GTA’s creator Rockstar, were involved in a multi-million dollar scandal called "Hot Coffee," in which Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a game originally rated M by the ESRB, was found to have hidden animations allowing players to watch graphic scenes of oral sex, nudity, and simulated intercourse. The scandal resulted in the game being pulled from most store shelves, a $2.75 million class-action settlement, and the stocks of the Rockstar’s parent company (Take Two Interactive) losing nearly half their value.

The ESRB rates a game based solely on a short video clip and information supplied by the game’s maker and does not actually play or review the full content of the game. While M-rated games are designed for adults, there is no prohibition to selling such games to children. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission reports that 42 percent of unaccompanied children 13 to 16 years of age can successfully purchase M-rated games.

In addition, a recent report by the National Institute on Media & the Family found complacency among retailers, parents and the gaming industry regarding video game rating awareness, enforcement and usage. Among the report’s highlights was a retailer grade of C-, with national retailers receiving a D and rental stores collecting a failing (F) grade. The game industry as a whole received a C and the ESRB received a C+.

Please note: this is a press release