In the world of marketing, it’s a well-known fact that anything that has to do with sex tends to sell well. In fact, it’s not only sex—concepts that are related to violence are also known to become bestsellers. However, marketing experts over at China don’t seem to be fond of such content. Therefore, they are now banning any content that are related to sex, gambling and violence in the advertisements of online gaming. In fact, China is not only intent on banning explicit advertising content but it seems that the Chinese are not so fond of online gaming either. Marketers feel that removing sexual and violent content from online gaming advertisement will also discourage people from playing online games in general.

Before you start commenting that the Chinese may be too conservative, you should know that it’s a common practice in China to use pornstars to promote online games. Surprisingly, the practice is not all that common yet in the West. Of course, there was the infamous Saints Row 2 commercial wherein adult Tera Patrick got on board to promote the game. And by “promote”, we mean she slowly stripped off her clothes on screen while singing the game’s praises. Surely, male gaming fans everywhere are wondering when they might see such a marketing tactic again.

If you’re a fan of the game Alpha Protocol by Obsidian then you’d be disappointed to know that Sega has just announced that the game will see no sequel. You’re probably shaking your head in disbelief especially because the game pretty much had a brilliant concept behind it. Unfortunately, it also had poor sales and in a profit-driven industry like videogames, numbers are more responsible for creating sequels than brilliance.

According to Mike Hayes who is the head of Sega US, the game did not do well commercially and that is the simple explanation why it won’t be getting a sequel. Hayes also says that this is despite the intelligent concept of the game. He also talks about how RPG games usually have to rank very high in Metacritic in order to do well in the market.

Hayes also admits that even though Alpha Protocol was a good game, it hasn’t proven to be a wise investment. And since RPG games are basically large projects, a sequel to the game won’t be a smart business decision.

Many critics believe that the problem may have stemmed from the steep price tag of the game. At $60 a pop, the game was obviously packaged as a budget game so a full retail price just didn’t agree with consumers.

Singer M.I.A. is yet to gain real popularity among music fans but it seems her latest comments about
videogames have already made her less popular with gaming fans. The singer who is also known as a
political activist recently expressed her thoughts about videogames teaching young children to appreciate
violence. She even went as far as saying that these violent videogames may even give players an appetite
She also said that many of the kids playing videogame are the same kids who are sent to Afghanistan when
they grow up. And that the images they see on videogames provide them with a misconstrued perception of
Not surprisingly, videogame lovers would have none of it. Even though it’s a fact that there are many
young and violent males over at Afghanistan and many parts of the Middle East, it would be safe to
say that they did not get these violent tendencies from playing videogames. In fact, it’s actually quite
disappointing to see an activist like M.I.A. who experienced first-hand violence to make such a hasty
statement. Videogames were not around during World War I and II, were they? Nor were they prevalent
during the extremely violent Vietnam War. So claiming that videogames are somehow responsible
for giving players an inclination toward war and violence is not just false but downright ridiculous.

If you’re one of the many gaming enthusiasts who cannot wait for the release of Gran Turismo 5 then you have a long wait ahead of you until the November launch this year. However, Kazunori Yamauchi decided to ease the suffering a little bit by sharing with us several new tracks that will be making their appearance on the upcoming game.

Yamauchi from Polyphony Digital shared five brand-new tracks that will become venues for the much-awaited game. These tracks are Tuscany, Madrid, Nurburging, the Rome circuit and the test course from Top Gear.

The Tuscany course features a rural and scenic locale, with wide country roads and summer skies. As a contrast, the Madrid track features one of the world’s most beautiful cities in all its urban glory. According to Yamauchi, the Madrid course took almost two years to complete, since urban tracks are often the most challenging to develop. This track even showcases the old buildings that Madrid is famous for.

The Nurburging course is a spiting image of the real thing—with parked cars, camping tents and even the road graffiti.

The Rome track is particularly impressive with its impeccable glimpse of the Coliseum. Just like the Madrid course, the Rome course took about a couple of years to complete.

Lastly, the Top Gear test course will features a unique 8-figure shape. Sounds like it’s going to be a pretty exciting race, doesn’t it?

Pop stars, rock bands, rappers and other celebrities from the music industry have been recently adding games to their resumes. And why not? Collaborating with gaming developers make a lot of money for these music people, especially when you are collaborating with a gaming giant like Activision. In fact, Activision has recently announced the latest list of music celebrities who will be featured in upcoming games of the company. Who knows? These same celebrities might even grace the E3 party.

Two of the games that gaming fanatics can expect as early as now are “Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock” and “DJ Hero 2”. According to press releases, DJ Hero 2 will be featuring the chart-topping hit by Usher, “OMG” as well as hits from popular DJs like Z-Trip, David Guetta and Deadmau 5. Meanwhile, an unreleased track of Soundgarden will be featured in Guitar Hero. Other rock songs that will be in the game are “Sudden Death” by Megadeth, “Been Caught Stealing” by Jane’s Addiction, “Children of the Grave” by Black Sabbath and “The Outsider” by A Perfect Circle.

An upcoming game called True Crime: Hong Kong will be featuring Pharrell Williams. Gamers can also look forward to the music of Rhea, a jazz artist known for her collaborations with N.E.R.D.

Videogame fanatics might remember Jack Thompson as the disbarred lawyer who came out to fight the world’s evil one videogame at a time. Recently, an Albuquerque woman named Marlene Perrotte came out and not only does she resemble Thompson in appearance but she also shares the same sentiment.

Surprisingly, Perrotte is not targeting so-called violent games like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto. Instead, she has her eyes set on an educational game that educates children about Mathematics.

The game that’s apparently causing Perrotte’s blood to boil is a videogame that features a gameplay where players get to become first-person shooters (albeit harmless non-violent ones) and learn how to solve Math problems along the way. Incredibly, Perrotte still insists that even this mild type of videogame still works to “feed the addiction of children”, instead of offering an innovative method of teaching children to learn.

The game is currently being used in several schools including the Madison Middle School. Supporters of the game claimed that the game was a good idea to make Math more relevant and interesting to children who are growing up with iPod’s, PSP’s and other technological marvels within their reach. On the other hand, Perrotte insists that what children take away from the game is not better knowledge of Math but excitement about the violence of the game.

What do you think?

If you’re a Wii fanatic then one of the games you have to look forward to would be the upcoming Earth Seeker. Developed by Crafts and Meisert, the game’s plot would revolve around Earth’s destruction. The game will be released by winter in Japan and it’s currently more than halfway done.

To give you more reason to look forward to the game, Noriza Funamizu is giving more details about the game. Furimizu is one of the game’s developers. He says that the game will begin during post-apocalypse, wherein all human beings on earth get shipped out of the planet through a space ship. Unfortunately, this space ship bearing earth’s inhabitants crashes into another planet. The ship will also contain a computer which will attempt to recreate earth on the said planet, but conflicts will arise since the crash will affect the computer’s configurations. So instead of producing a copy of life on earth, the computer will give birth to genetically transformed animals and plants. These new life forms will pose as a threat to the displaced humans.

GoNintendo has recently released some scans and tidbits of the game for those who want a taste of Earth Seeker. Based on the scans, it seems that gamers will be battling huge monsters and using energy balls in battle. With such an imaginative gameplay and features, there is no doubt that Earth Seeker is one of games to watch out for.

Final Fantasy fans out there who have been hoping for a remake of the Final Fantasy VII movie are in for some disappointing news. Square Enix is now claiming that a remake of the film would take an incredibly long time. In fact, remember when producer Yoshinori Kitase said that the development of the remake would take fourteen years at least? As if this estimate wasn’t long enough, Kitase is now claiming that it would take more than twice this time to come up with a remake.

The discussion was held in Korea at the launch of Final Fantasy XIII. Kitase laughingly told the crowd that this was not the first time that the topic of a Final Fantasy VII remake has been brought up. In fact, he has even grown quite weary of the topic already.

Kitase explained that it took his team up to four years to create the quality of the recent Final Fantasy XIII. He said that trying to come up with the same style of quality for the remake of Final Fantasy VII would tale “ten times as long”. So is anyone out there willing to wait for 40 years for a possible remake?

Of course, critics are trying to figure out if Square Enix is really providing a logical timeline or if the company just wants to end the subject once and for all.

If you make it a point to stay on top of the latest gaming news then you’ve probably heard about the upcoming title, Bloody Good Time, a game developed by Ubisoft for the Xbox Live Arcade. Since its announcement on February, many gaming fanatics have wondered what’s in store for them when the game finally comes out.

Fortunately, you can now have a glimpse of what awaits you.

If you love B-movies with a lot of blood and gore then Bloody Good Time will surely interest you. Basically, the gameplay will be on the set of a cheesy B-movie and all the characters will be involved in some kind of “kill or be killed” drama. Not only that but the weapons of murder are actually quite creative—ranging from staples like swords and machine guns to more ingenious weapons like frying pans and golf clubs. Naturally, creative killing styles will be rewarded by points and “fame”.

Fellows who like to see a bit of skin on their games will be glad to know that the game will involve your usual female characters clad in skimpy outfits. After all, where would horror movies be without the obligatory bedroom scene and half-naked girl being chased by a murderer?

Other game details like player’s ability to drink beer and sit on the toilet in the gameplay makes Blood Good Time bloody interesting as well.

When the game Red Deed Redemption was released, industry experts (including Michael Pacther) expressed their doubt about the game’s success. Several months later, it seems that the tables have turned. Red Deed Redemption was not only a best-selling critical hit but it’s now also in the running to receive the award as the biggest launch of 2010 in the UK. In fact, the game has done so well that it defeated other major releases such as Final Fantasy XIII.

This was reported by HMV, a popular retailer in the UK. It was reported that the game is doing so well that it is expected to sell 300,000 copies in a span of two days. Jonathan Hayes from HMV attested to the title’s astounding accomplishment that beat out other more hyped-up games such as Heavy Rain and Battlefield.

Pre-orders are available at HMV’s website. Along with Red Deed Redemption, you can even download The War Horse for free. If you wish to make your purchase the traditional way, HMV stores will also welcome you with free Xbox products. Free copies of “3:10 to Yuma” are also available for every purchase of PS3 products.

Want to know if Red Deed Redemption is really as good as critics say it is? Surf online and look for some credible reviews.