According to Ars Technica, opening statements in the first Xbox 360 criminal hacking trial were delayed yesterday after a federal judge lectured prosecutors for a full thirty minutes, saying he had “serious concerns about the government’s case.”

Gutierrez slammed the prosecution over everything from alleged unlawful behavior by government witnesses, to proposed jury instructions harmful to the defense. When the verbal assault finally subsided, federal prosecutors asked for a recess to determine whether they would offer the defendant a deal, dismiss, or move forward with the case that was to become the first jury trial of its type.

The fair-use issue came up as the judge berated prosecutor Allen Chiu’s proposed jury instructions, which included the assertion that the government need not prove that the defendant “willfully” breached the law. The judge noted that the government’s own intellectual property crimes manual concerning the 1998 DMCA says the defendant has to have some knowledge that he was breaking the law.

Publisher: Nexon
Developer: Nexon
System requirements: Windows 2000; Single Core 2.4 GHz CPU; 512 MB RAM; 5+ GB HDD; Geforce 5xxx; Broadband Internet connection.
Genre: Action MMO
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

For the past few years, whenever people happen to discuss MMOs, a comparison to World of Warcraft ensues. In most cases, similarity is being spoken of as a Bad Thing, although quite frankly WoW has a lot to teach other games. Either way, the new kid on the MMO block is Vindictus, and for better or worse, it is absolutely nothing like WoW when it comes to the mechanics of the game. Otherwise, it is your standard swords and magic MMO fare. NPCs give quests, you kill things, things drop loot, you sell loot and craft items, et cetera.

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A little more than a month ago I shared my thoughts on the upcoming Cataclysm, the third World of Warcraft expansion. Although it won’t hit the stores until December 7, recently Patch 4.0.3a went live, and with it all the anticipated, and feared, changes to the world (of Warcraft.) Although I was still unsure of whether I was going to buy Cataclysm, I was unable to resist my journalistic zeal, so I renewed my subscription for the first time since May 15, 2009. After having played all night, I bring you my impressions of the new patch. Keep in mind, WoW is absolutely huge, and it would take me months to re-explore all the nooks and crannies of it. So as you read this, remember that I’m talking about a tiny percentage of the changes that have occurred.

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In answer to a question on their corporate site, Double Fine explains why they have yet to make a PC version of any of their titles.

“As a developer we do not have final say in the sku plan for our games. That is the decision of the person investing the money, i.e. the publisher. We have much of the technology in place to produce PC versions of all these games, but there is still some more work required to make them shippable and that costs money. So far, our publishers have not elected to fund that work. Not because they hate PC Gamers, but because they don’t see enough financial reward. Double Fine does care about PC Gamers, and we always push for a PC version, and will continue to do so in the future. If we ever get super stinking rich here, with enough money to fund PC versions of our games, then we will go back and make them ourselves! Oh man, wouldn’t that be cool?”

As revealed to CVG Crytek boss, Cervat Yerli, believes that developer focus on the 360 and PS3 is holding back the quality of PC games.

“PC is easily a generation ahead right now. With 360 and PS3, we believe the quality of the games beyond Crysis 2 and other CryEngine developments will be pretty much limited to what their creative expressions is, what the content is. You won’t be able to squeeze more juice from these rocks. Until the PC market creates comparable revenues, companies are not going to spend enough on the PC SKU of a game.”

CD Projekt recently announced that The Witcher 2 would ship without DRM, but that doesn’t mean that they intend to overlook any pirating of their game either. Speaking to Eurogamer, co-founder Marcin Iwiński said that the company would pursue legal action against anyone who illegally downloads the game.

“Of course we’re not happy when people are pirating our games, so we are signing with legal firms and torrent sneaking companies. In quite a few big countries, when people are downloading it illegally they can expect a letter from a legal firm saying, Hey, you downloaded it illegally and right now you have to pay a fine.”

Publisher: Stickmen Studios
Developer: Stickmen Studios
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/7; AMD/Pentium 2.0 GHz; 256MB RAM; 64MB GeForce 4 Ti or ATI equivalent; DirectX: 9.0c; 300MB hard drive space; Soundblaster compatible
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

Back in the days of yore, before I ever considered becoming a game reviewer, I was content to play games without having to dissect them for science. I used to wonder if there were any unpleasant aspects to being a gaming journalist. At that time I couldn’t come up with an answer, because as a teenager it was impossible to find any flaw with the get-games-for-free-and-play-them scenario. Now, as both a grown man and a game reviewer, I can answer that question, although I wish I still couldn’t. The worst part is recognizing the developers’ hard work and dedication, and yet…decidedly not liking the game.

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Publisher: Phoenix Online
Developer: Phoenix Online
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7; 1 GHz Intel or AMD CPU; 512 MB RAM (1 GB for Vista/Win 7); 256 MB DirectX 9.0c-compatible graphics card; DirectX 9.0c or higher
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

The second episode of The Silver Lining (a fan-made sequel to the King’s Quest series) was released a short while ago. Titled Two Households, it continues from where the first part left off. In this episode King Graham continues his quest to liberate his children from a curse bestowed upon them by an anonymous evil sorcerer. A couple of new locations have opened up, a number of characters are ready to converse, and some new items and puzzles have become available. Of course the game is still free and all you have to do to obtain it is register at the developer’s web site (above).

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Dear Grandfather Frost,

Would you kindly deliver me the following:

1) A pad device that is not an iPad. Personally, I would prefer something that is Linux-driven, but should there be a good Windows-based device, I would not be opposed to it. To be more specific, I envision it as having a replaceable battery, a couple of standard USB ports, and full control over its software and hardware configuration. It should also place no restrictions on who can develop applications for it, and in case of Windows it should support .NET 4.0 so that I can write my own software without having to depend on app stores and such. Additionally, I would expect it to support all the standard range or external USB hardware that a normal computer supports. That includes everything from mice to monitors.

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I’ve been experiencing a strange urge to return to WoW lately. I suspect I just want to see that world once again, before it is all destroyed by an upcoming expansion. Laugh all you want and call me a nerd, but I have an emotional investment in it. Certainly it’s a make-belief world, but emotion is emotion and whatever causes it is not necessarily concrete. Books, films, music, and so on are make-believe, too. I haven’t played for over a year, and I can’t say that I miss it, but the thought of all of it just being gone one day unsettles me.

What’s worse, is that I’m not sure just how “gone” it will be. From what we know right now, all of Blizzard’s game servers will be updated to the new version, just as it was with both of the previous expansions. This essentially means that the world I knew and loved will only possibly be preserved on some secret private server, run by some hacker and hunted relentlessly by Blizzard’s legal department.

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StarCraft 2 is an excellent game, from all perspectives. Unfortunately, however, there is an aspect of it that neither developers nor the players are able to control. I am, of course, talking about the multiplayer experience. As with all other games where you play with random people on the Internet, StarCraft 2 matches can elicit emotions that range from exhilaration even if you lose, to profound annoyance even if you win. In a world governed by meticulous micromanagement the one part of the game that you have absolutely no control over is other people’s demeanor.

When a match begins, only one thing is certain: one of the sides will lose. Both know it, and both are prepared to give their best to not let it happen. Often, however, one of the sides is not prepared to deal with the possibility of defeat. The reasons for that are best left for professional psychologists to discuss, but what matters is that an alarmingly large chunk of people seem to perceive their own loss as a grave insult, regardless of the reasons for it.

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Publisher: Blizzard
Developer: Blizzard
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Mac OSX 10.5.8 or newer, 2.6 GHz Pentium IV or equivalent CPU, 128 MB GeForce 6600/ATI Radeon 9800 Pro or better graphics card, 1 GB RAM (1.5 GB for Vista/Win 7, 2 GB for Mac), 12 GB hard-drive space, broadband Internet connection, 1024 x 720 minimum screen resolution
Genre: RTS
Release date: Available now

StarCraft II continues the saga of Terrans, Protoss and Zerg, the three space-faring races that plot (in real time) each other’s demise. The original StarCraft (1998) took the world by storm. Although it was somewhat lacking in terms of technology and advancement of the RTS genre, its sheer polish, for which Blizzard is so famous, has made it one of the best selling games ever. Some claim that it went further than all others and became something more. For example, when traveling in Korea a few years ago, I fell sick and had to stay at home for a few days. During that time, I entertained myself by watching non-stop StarCraft matches on four channels of Korean national television.

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Publisher: Phoenix Online Studios
Developer: Phoenix Online Studios
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1 GHz Intel or AMD CPU, 512 MB RAM (1 GB for Vista/Win 7), 256 MB DirectX 9.0c-compatible graphics card, DirectX 9.0c or higher
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available now

The King’s Quest series by Sierra Online can easily be considered some of the most beloved games of all time. In addition, they are the cornerstones of adventure gaming, PC gaming, and gaming in general. Created in 1984, the first game took the world by storm and became so popular that six sequels were released during the next 10 years. The seventh sequel strayed from the classic formula and was not very well received. At that point, a decision was made to discontinue the franchise. (Anyone who would like to learn more should read David Craddock’s excellent three-part article on the history of KQ.) Today, 12 years after Sierra’s last KQ game, a fan-made sequel, The Silver Lining, has been released. It was developed by a group of uncommonly dedicated volunteers who have worked long years and have overcome significant odds to bring the game to market. The project was shut down twice by the IP holders (Vivendi and Activision), but both times the fans were able to persuade the publishers to grant the team a non-commercial license.

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Earlier we reported that they were coming back and when they were coming back, but we didn’t exactly mention why they’re coming back.

The first episode of The Silver Lining will be released July 10. This is due in large part to the efforts of the “Save the Silver Lining” campaign. After the fans made themselves heard, not only did Activision realize the error of their ways, they actually contacted Phoenix Online and worked with them to negotiate a deal. As a result the developers were once again granted a non-commercial license. The game is going to be released completely free of charge and in episodic format.

This is the second time a major publisher surrendered to the demands of the fans of Silver Lining. In 2005 Vivendy Universal tried to shut down this fan-made sequel to the famous King’s Quest series, but reversed their decision after thousands of fans protested the action. Earlier this year Activision Blizzard tried the same thing, but has now backed down under pressure from fans.

Publisher: THQ
Developer: Relic
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista, Pentium 4 3.2 GHz single core or any dual core CPU, 128 MB video card with Pixel Shader 3.0, 1GB RAM (1.5GB for Vista), 6.5 GB hard-drive space, Internet connection
Genre: RTS
Release date: Available now

After defeating the invading Tyranids at the end of the Dawn of War II campaign, the Blood Ravens chapter of the Space Marines spent weeks in drunken debauchery. Or maybe that’s what I would do. They, on the other hand, being genetically enhanced and mechanically augmented protectors of humanity, didn’t do anything of the sort. Instead they discovered a heresy and fought it throughout the Chaos Rising campaign in a most grim and determined way. That is because “grim and determined” is the way Space Marines do everything.

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