G-News

The game “Imagination is the Only Escape” recently sparked controversy, becasue a holocaust survivor condemned the game. Jack Kagan says that he is mad at the concept of the game.

The game is about a boy in east France after the Germans invaded France, and the only way to escape the horror is through fantasy.

He said:

“The Holocaust is serious for all humanity and I don’t think anyone should make this kind of game. I’m very upset by it,” Mr Kagan said.

The game is being developed by 21-year-old Briton Luc Bernard, whose mother is Jewish. It is being produced by Alten8, a private company licensed to develop games for Nintendo UK.

Mr Bernard, who now lives in France, told the JC that the game was intended to educate people about the Holocaust.

“This is to educate children. I don’t find war to be a game and this will not contain any violence. Lots of other war games just have a lot of shooting and don’t really show what war is, but that’s not what I’m doing,” he said.”

But Mr Kagan said: “This is not educational. Holocaust education should not be done through games of this nature. People can read and watch things about the Holocaust, they do not need these kinds of games.”

Primary school children will be told to play Nintendo before classes in the morning as part of a drive to improve their learning ability.

A 20-minute burst of the ‘brain training’ exercises on Nintendo’s DS console at the start of the day apparently improves performance in maths tests by as much as 10 per cent, according to a Scottish study.

The scheme, backed by Scottish education authorities, will be introduced across 16 schools following a pilot in Dundee which found that a daily session of Nintendo’s ‘More Brain Training with Dr Kawashima’ game improved students’ concentration and behaviour, as well as their maths results.

Luke plunkett has some information on experminetal games created by Japanese students on Nintendo’s seminal DS console. These will be release free of charge over on Japan’s DS download stations. The first game will be up on March 13, with the last on April 24,
But hurry these will only be available for a limited time.
Hit the jump for the full article.

Scratch off the vague spring 2008 release window for English of the Dead. Sega has the innovative House of the Dead 2 English training mashup set to come out on May 29. Siliconera has information on the gameplay/training.

Square Enix has announced that The World Ends With You will be released in North America on April 22, 2008. If you are still unsure what this game is about, here’s a brief description taken from the official press release:

“The story begins as Neku Sakuraba, an unsociable 15-year-old boy, unexpectedly wakes up in the Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, Japan. While trying to piece together his rude awakening, he receives a strange text message warning him that he will cease to exist unless he accomplishes a certain mission. Although he barely has time to grasp what is happening to him, he commences his assigned task in the mysterious streets of Shibuya.”

VideoGamer.com reports that Atari’s quarter three financial results have revealed a number of new titles currently lined-up for release in the publishers coming fiscal year (ending March 31, 2009):

“The biggest is one we already know about, Alone in the Dark, which should release in May for Xbox 360, PC, PS2 and Wii. A PS3 version is to follow at a later date. Alone in the Dark is to be joined in the summer by PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 FPS Legendary.

New to our knowledge is Airborne Rangers for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. There’s no info, but it could be a new game based on a game of the same name released in the late 80s by MicroProse. It saw players taking on the role of a sole airborne ranger and infiltrating enemy territory to complete objectives.”

Hudson Entertainment’s classic RPG franchise Dungeon Explorer has returned for an all new experience for not only the Nintendo DS but the PSP as well, and each version of Warriors of Ancient Arts will have two different gameplay experiences and stories by offering players and updated version of the classic series with all-new stories.

On the PSP system, players find themselves on a quest to uncover the fate of a legendary kingdom. Along the way, heroes will engage in battles and fight against demonic and monstrous creatures, armed with their own arsenal of assorted weapons. There are hundreds of variations between weapons, armor and equipment for players to choose from, all of which can be reworked as they progress through the adventure. Also on the PSP system, players have the ability to choose their warfare style with more than 150 different kinds of fighting arts, one of them being “Big Bang Arts”. Big Bang Arts is unique to the PSP version and allows three players to team up to triple their destructive power in Ad-Hoc Multiplayer mode. Big Bang Arts harnesses the power of all three characters at once to unleash a devastating attack on the enemy. Timing will be crucial, as the game is action-oriented, and must be calculated precisely in order to be successful.

The Nintendo DS version places gamers in a land beleaguered by a legion of undead, monstrous soldiers. The story takes place long fter the events of the PSP system, as a legend foretells of a hero who will rise to face the growing threat. Gamers must rediscover the lost “Ancient Fighting Arts” to restore peace to the Kingdom of Westria. With more than 60 different fighting arts across 8 lost Ancient Fighting Art schools, players can become skilled warriors in order to successfully wage battle against their enemies. Armories of weapons, armor and equipment are available to players, along with three hero races and three character job classes. Players can also play in a group, as 3 players can join forces to battle the “Demon God’s” minions via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

“Empire Interactive is to resurrect the popular puzzle title, Pipe Mania on a broad variety of platforms. The original Pipe Mania was initially published in 1989, and achieved sales of over four million units worldwide. It appeared on a multitude of formats, including Amiga, Atari ST, Acorn Archimedes, Acorn Electron, BBC micro, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Game Boy, Macintosh and NES.”

EA Casual Entertainment today announces its first step in transforming the interactive family entertainment landscape with its initial slate of Hasbro games in development on a variety of game consoles, mobile devices and for online play. These games provide new ways for families to build relationships through digital entertainment with some of world’s greatest brands. The first Nintendo Wii and DS titles that will be available this fall are Littlest Pet Shop, and Nerf “N-Strike,” both in production at EA’s Salt Lake Studio. EA also is developing new Monopoly and Scrabble (in North America) titles for multiple platforms, as well as other titles that will be announced later this year.

This is the sort of act that really makes it clear that you don’t view money as the most important thing in life. Dr. Kawashima, whom any Brain Age player has become acquainted with (or at least a blocky head that resembles him) while playing the game.

With 17 million copies of Brain Age sold worldwide since its release, royalties for Dr. Kawashima have risen to an astounding $22 million – not a penny of which he has accepted. He said, “Everyone in my family is mad at me but I tell them that if they want money, go out and earn it.”

The 48-year-old professor says he is happy to live off his salary of roughly $100,000 per year (I’d personally be more than happy with that). He’s a self-proclaimed workaholic, which is made readily apparent in this story on Google.

I think most any person would take the money, so I really admire Dr. Kawashima for being true to himself and turning it down.