Sony has been quietly waging war with manufacturers of unlicensed PS3 controllers for some time now. With the deployment of new firmware version 3.50, the war could be over, but not without taking some unintentional casualties. The new system update identifies and disables counterfeit controllers, but three old Mad Catz peripherals have also been victimized. These include the company’s PS3 GamePad (wired and wireless models built before 2008), and the now-unavailable PS3 Wireless MicroCon. All other MadCatz products should still work with updated PS3s, according to company spokesman Alex Verrey.

Source: Kotaku

Two Cabinet secretaries and the nation’s chief technology officer will be on hand at the White House on September 29 to introduce 12 winners of the Apps for Healthy Kids Challenge. The contest, sponsored by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative, offers a total of $60,000 in prizes to software and game developers who design tools and programs that help children and their parents become more physically active. Mrs. Obama launched the contest in March 2010, and since then more than 100 entries have been submitted. You can check out some of the submissions by clicking here.

The demo for ArcaniA-Gothic 4 is now available for download from World of Gothic.

The demo consists of the first two hours of the game and includes the beginning tutorial level on Feshyr Island with selected quests. As a shepherd, the new nameless hero is living on the Island in peace, but dark clouds are passing over Feshyr and now it’s time for the hero to come to terms with his fate.

ArcaniA-Gothic 4, the “official successor” to the Gothic series will be released on October 12.

Trion Worlds just released a new video showcasing the untamed wonder of the Life Rift from their upcoming MMO, Rift: Planes of Telara. At once savage and incredibly beautiful, Rifts from the Life Plane can open anytime and anywhere, spilling tangled vines, exotic flowers, and deadly creatures upon the Telaran terrain. You’’ll find here some ecstatic satyrs, toad-like shamblers and carnivorous boglings that battle endlessly for dominance in the name of Greenscale the Primeval, the plane’s dragon lord.

There is no ground in the Plane of Life, and there is no sky. Both are overgrown with plants as exotic as they are deadly. Roots clash like enemy armies, shoving and scrambling, while vines bulge together, sprouting thorns to stab each other.

The early access open beta phase for Vindictus will still run for another week, so players who haven’t had a chance to master their grappling skills still have time to jump into the game and practice. This video highlights some of the grappling attacks that players can use as finishing moves when opponents are seized.

Since most people are probably more familiar with the hack and slash action of the game, some might not have utilized their grappling skills. Along with being able to attack opponents with swords and debris, players can throw, kick and punch monsters in various finishing attacks. Successfully implementing a high-damage grappling move will reward warriors with various drops.

Prepare for invasion with the first issue of the Telara Chronicles graphic novel miniseries from Trion Worlds and WildStorm. Following the adventures of the beautiful and deadly Asha Catari, Telara Chronicles #1 kicks off the four part miniseries based on Rift: Planes of Telara, the upcoming online game from Trion Worlds. Written by Ricardo Sanchez (Resident Evil) and featuring art by Pop Mhan (World of Warcraft), Issue #1 is now available.

Both the MMO and the comic are set in a world torn asunder by elemental rifts that unleash powerful planar forces, and threaten Telara’s very existence. Amid the spreading darkness and mayhem, two factions, the Guardians and the Defiant, battle to understand and perhaps control the power surging through these tears in the fabric of reality. The WildStorm series follows the story of Asha Catari, a plane-touched warrior with magical abilities, as she ventures in search of answers and adventure.

Variety reports that Director Christopher Nolan is thinking about making a game based on the film Inception.

“What we are looking at doing is developing a videogame based on the world of the film, which has all kinds of ideas that you can’t fit into a feature film.”

The game would expand upon Nolan’s thought-provoking universe of dreams and thought manipulation, but don’t head on down to place that pre-order just yet. Nolan’s idea may take at least “a couple of years” to simmer before anyone begins work on such a title.

When powerful thongs threaten to throw the world into chaos, a hero must rise. That hero is DeathSpank! Our purple-thonged hero returns this week in DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue. The game was released on the PlayStation Network earlier this week, and our mighty hero brings great justice to the Xbox Live Arcade today. The launch trailer showcases the expanded roster of environments, enemies and loot.

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Pandemic
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Hunting Nazis is one of the most popular pastimes for shooter players, going all the way back to Wolfenstein 3D. But most of the time the hunt takes on a mystical, otherworldly quality, with tales of time travel and the occult tossed in for sweetener. Not so with The Saboteur, a gritty, sometimes noirish open-world action game that piles on the reality, at least for the most part.

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Experience the feel of playing the world’s most famous golf courses from the comfort of your living room in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 for the PlayStation 3 – now featuring actual golf swing motion with the PlayStation Move motion controller. For the first time in franchise history, HD visuals and online experiences combine with the feel of motion control.

Feel the thrill of ripping a drive down the fairway with the PlayStation Move controller. Then use the precision control to adjust your power and shot shaping from tee to green. Play with the all-new True Aim mode, and judge your shots and distance using yardage markers only, as the Sony folks attempt to provide the most authentic and realistic experience for even the most seasoned virtual golf pro.

PlayStation Move is available for use in all game modes, online and offline, in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. To enable Move functionality, players must download a title update from the PlayStation Network, and the PlayStation Eye camera is required.

The potential final battle between the government and the video game industry on the sale of violent games is set to begin. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments for and against a 2005 California law that prohibits the sales of violent video games to minors and gives the government the right to decide what material is violent enough to restrict, a law that has been twice struck down as unconstitutional by the lower courts. The entertainment industry has closed ranks around the Entertainment Merchants Association and the Entertainment Software Association, the plaintiffs in the case. They have received the support of groups such as the Motion Picture Association of America, the Media Coalition (made up of elements of the recording industry) and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, whose friend-of-the-court brief states that the law “would undermine more First Amendment principles in a single case than any decision in living memory.” Oral arguments before the court are scheduled to begin on November 2.

Source: MSNBC

Bethesda Softworks just released the first Fallout: New Vegas video developer diary. Here the team at Obsidian touches on The Story of New Vegas.

This story will be brought to life by a star-studded cast. Ron Perlman returns to voice the narrator in Fallout: New Vegas, a role he has played in every major Fallout game to date. Matthew Perry plays Benny, a smooth-talking, two faced gangster, and Wayne Newton assumes the role of Mr. New Vegas, the radio DJ of the Mojave Wasteland.

Destineer is bringing Dragon’s Lair to the Nintendo DS. The company’s recent announcement of the Dragon’s Lair Trilogy for Wii, brought in such a flood of emails demanding the game be released on the DS system, that they had no choice but to comply.

An instant hit in its 1983 arcade debut, Dragon’s Lair has become both one of the most beloved (and hated) arcade games. Play as the valiant knight, Dirk the Daring, and immerse yourself in a fantasy adventure on a quest to rescue Princess Daphne from the clutches of Singe, an evil dragon. You control the actions of the daring adventurer, finding your way through the castle of a dark wizard, who has cast a spell on it with treacherous monsters and obstacles. Lead on adventurer, your quest awaits for a mere $19.99 when it arrives this fall.

Let’s just hope the controls have been improved through the years!

The gaming industry is mourning one of its own after a tragic accident in Washington State. On September 3, Brian Wood, 33, lead designer of Relic’s soon-to-be-released Company of Heroes Online, was killed while driving to a family event on Whidbey Island when his vehicle was struck by an out-of-control SUV. True to the spirit of his current project, reports are that Wood saw the danger and swerved to place himself between the oncoming Chevy Blazer and his pregnant wife, Erin, whose child is due to be born in early November. Erin and child survived, but Brian died instantly. Mrs. Wood has sent a letter to gaming website Kotaku, thanking gamers for their support and good wishes. The driver of the SUV has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide (Wood plus two passengers in the Blazer) and one count of vehicular assault.

Advertisers now have proof that ads in games make money. A recent study by the Nielsen Company (the TV ratings people) has shown that Gatorade ads placed in six Electronic Arts sports games, including NHL 10 and NBA Live 09, increased by 24% the amount of money spent on the sports drink by the participating families. The study included information provided by approximately 100,000 American families, whose spending habits were monitored before and after Gatorade ads were placed in the games, according to Businesswire.com. The study has been called a “milestone for interactive entertainment” by EA’s Senior Vice President of Global Media Sales, Elizabeth Harz. “Now brands can feel confident adding gaming as a core media channel for their advertising.”