GamesIndustry.biz reports that Activision has been ordered not to air Call of Duty 2 ads in the U.K. that use pre-rendered imagery to sell the game. Three Television viewers apparently complained to that country's Advertising Standards Authority that the imagery constituted misleading advertising. From the article: "The adjudication is likely to send shockwaves through the industry as it focuses on the question of whether pre-rendered footage is an acceptable representation of a computer game - in its defence, Activision didn't argue that it was, but rather that using pre-rendered footage was "common practice"."

Heartless Gamer wrote to mention a set of beta impressions from RF Online at GamerGod. RF Online is a MMOG that's been out for a little while already in the east, but has now been published here in the U.S.. The launch date for the U.S. service was yesterday, the 21st. From the article: "If I had to point out a single aspect that keeps the pre-30 game fun, I would have to say that it's the totally eliminated down time between fights. Potion use, or "potting" as the locals put it, is a vital part of the game and the reason why healer classes are unnecessary enough for only one faction to get them. Potions are sold on NPC vendors for bargain prices, enough that it's easy to afford to keep 99-potion piles."

Ryan Joseph Hudson wrote to mention his impressions of the 2006 Taipei Game Show. The article on his LJ is full of photos of the event, and some fairly cynical commentary on what was offered by the exhibitors. From the article: "I don't know what I had in mind, walking in there. I thought I'd see some new games, I guess. And I did. Unfortunately, they were all in Chinese. Sony and Microsoft tried to make a showing. That didn't work. Local companies, Chinese companies, Korean companies, and this guy all stole their thunder. I should hasten to add that there was also a World of Warcraft display. This included a giant World of Warcraft Tour Bus and a giant inflatable orc. The orc was anatomically correct. Still all of these foreign companies made a weak showing. They weren't on their home turf and it showed."

GamerDad has a piece talking about families gaming together online. The article profiles some gamer families. Brian Reynolds, CEO of Big Huge Games, is cited as an example; He games together with his sons. The article also touches on the more serious issues of addiction and quality time. From the article: "Another hidden benefit to online games is that families spread over several states can keep in touch and play online together. Thompson agrees, 'I never foresaw how important the games online would become, but I did actually get a line added into my divorce decree that guaranteed me three days a week that I could get on the computer with my kids, via web cam. So I could communicate and see them. At the time, I wasn't a huge MMORPG player, so I didn't envision the role it would play.'"

cyrus_zuo writes "Game Tunnel has just published its February Independent Video Games Round-Up. This article looks at ten indie games from the last month with four different people reviewing and rating each game to provide a variety of insights into what was and wasn't great in Indie gaming in the last month. This month's review is highlighted by Tower Defence, Tube Twist and Wrestling Encore."

Gamasutra has a piece on the development of the visual look of Star Trek Online. From the article: "We set out to reproduce the interior of a starship from the television show, so we began by examining shots of the sets. Looking over the images, we made a few observations. There are many light sources. The lighting is diffuse. Shadows are soft. There are several types of material with different reflectivity and specularity. These were the features we wanted to reproduce in game. We thought they were the key to the look."

kukyfrope writes "In order to help push current-gen sales, EA is slashing prices on some of its upcoming titles. For instance, two of EA's most anticipated titles, The Godfather (March 14) and Black (February 28), will retail for $39.95." From the article: "It'll be interesting to see how the market reacts to these price cuts. We would guess that several other publishers could soon follow EA's lead and drop the prices on their upcoming current-gen software also. It could be just the strategy the industry needs to boost overall sales. $39.95 looks like a bargain when it's sitting on the shelf next to a next-generation game priced at $59.95."

The site GamesIndustry.biz has a report on a change to the CERO system. The Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO), now has an adults-only category. From the article: "The A rating is equivalent to the current CERO All rating for all ages, B is for CERO 12 (for ages twelve and over), C equates to CERO 15, and the D rating would be for ages seventeen and up - for which there was no previous equivalent. The A-D ratings will remain advisory, but the Z rating will be regulated by the government."

The Escapist's theme this week is 'retro-style games', and Russ Pitts (one of the gents behind Gamers With Jobs) has a piece on post-apocalyptic gaming. Entitled 'Duck and Cover', it touches on games with that fallout flavour. From the article: "The desolate imagery and desperate sense of hopelessness in the face of unimaginable tragedy make Fallout a difficult game to finish (especially for a Day After Kid), but it is precisely the ending of this game that makes every moment of pain and frustration worthwhile. Watching the Fallout's ending cut-scene rendered me utterly speechless. I literally could not summon the words or thoughts to describe my emotions."

Last week we reported on a travesty of journalism; A local newsteam decrying the Pictochat DS program for being dangerous to children. Well, it turns out that respected family gaming site GamerDad actually told them they were wrong before they even reported the story. From the article: "When contacted for the story, I talked for a good fifteen minutes about the possibility of this situation occurring and what might have to take place to facilitate it. I specifically explained that turning on the DS in a public place has never turned up a Pictochatter. Never. I've tried a bunch of times to see if anyone attempts to use it in public. I also said at least three or four times that Pictochat was not Internet enabled, even after I received a call-back asking if it were possible for this to happen at one of Philadelphia's 'Wi-Fi hotspots' which are also mentioned in the article."

Gamasutra has a talk with Jani Karlsson, senior manager for the N-Gage at Nokia. He talks about how Nokia sees the N-Gage, and what they plan to do with the little engine that could've in the near future. Sort of. Kinda. From the article: "GS: So the new handsets which are coming out with the N-Gage technology inside. What's the visibility of the brand of N-Gage within those? JK: I really can't comment on that because I'd be stepping on other peoples turf. Every single product that Nokia has a strong individual marketing message to it. The power to decide the visibility or non-visibility of any brand, external or internal, is really down to individual brand departments. GS: So... you can talk about the future of N-Gage? JK: Sure - that's all about expansion, into the smartphone areas."

Gamasutra reports that Dave Perry, the founder of Shiny Entertainment, quit his role with the company to aid its sale from floundering Atari. From the article: "Shiny Entertainment was founded in 1993 by Dave Perry, and produced the hit Earthworm Jim series, as well as the financially successful Enter The Matrix. It is also noted for more esoteric titles such as MDK, Messiah and Sacrifice. The studio was sold to French publisher Infogrames by Interplay in 2002 for an estimated $47 million, before the company bought the rights to the Atari name and logo." Sacrifice was a unique and under-rated strategy title. It was flawed, to be sure, but the immediacy of summoning your troops in the field was a lot of fun.

gnarlin writes "GtkRadiant is now available under GPL license, along with some Quake II tools which never got a chance to be put under GPL before. Head over to the qeradiant website for all the details. GtkRadiant is a level editor developed by id Software and Loki Software. It is used to create maps for a number of computer games."

Rosethorn writes "IGN's Sci-Fi Brain has a weekly column covering relevant topics in video games as they relate to science fiction. This week TK-422 defines what it takes to create a 'next-generation' gaming experience. He examines some innovative games from the past, and looks at where innovation will come from in the future." From the article: "Contrary to popular belief, the ability to create more realistic and lifelike graphical environments doesn't always count as innovation. Next-generation graphics should not just rely on a console's or PC's ability to render better visuals. Next-generation graphics should permit players to become completely immersed in the universe that the developers have created for them."

Gamers with Jobs has a piece on the supposed industry downturn, stating plainly that any problems are figments in the minds of analysts. From the article: "I concede, things are not bright sunshine and frolicking puppies for the gaming industry at the moment. There's a less-than-stellar Xbox 360 launch, a lot of very proficient people pocketing pale pink slips, a disappointing sales sheet from the most recent holiday season, and a lot of industry insiders wailing and gnashing their teeth. Now is the winter of our discombobulation. In short, gaming seems to be at its own throat lately, and from the cheap seats, watching happily, cackle the pundits, cheering the bloodletting ... It's baloney. What isn't being talked about is the fact that consumers are buying more games than they ever have. They are just spreading the money out a bit more, putting dollars into the used market, into handheld devices, into services like Live Arcade, and into direct downloads. The handheld market alone, which just cracked into the billion dollar range in 2004, soared 62% to 1.6 billion for 2005 on the backs of the ever sturdy GBA, the largely successful launch of the PSP, and the coming of age of the DS."

Via a GameSetWatch post, the news on Adventure Gamers that Uru is back in a limited form. Uru, the online Myst game from Cyan Worlds, was taken offline not long after the service was first launched. From the article: "In an open letter to the community, Cyan co-founder Rand Miller revealed that they have received 'limited funding from a third party that allows us to breathe some refreshing new life and optimism into all things Uru.' The server, called the D'mala shard, is available for no charge to any owner of Uru, though to access it you'll require an invitation from the community."

Some additional details on stories we've previously discussed. The Garriott brothers gave a talk at the DICE conference earlier this month, and while Next Generation offered the gist of the Garriot keynote, Gamespy has a detailed look at their predictions. We also talked earlier about World of Warcraft as the new golf. C|Net has a deeper look at the trend of networking in Azeroth. From that article: "With more than 5.5 million people now playing WoW and joining guilds for everything from police officers to soldiers returning from Iraq, it was bound to happen: The rich guys have carved a virtual space to call their own. In fairness, the six-month-old guild isn't just for rich folks. There are plenty of bartenders and regular workaday types in the group as well. But what sets 'We Know' apart is its concentration of movers and shakers in the technology world."

Karsten writes "An article in Variety claims that Sony is cutting back on UMD releases. While comedies are doing well, other genres simply aren't getting much traction." From the article: "Some have reasoned that sales may have slowed recently because of a shortage of new titles in the last month and because users may be illegally copying films from DVDs onto a memory chip the PSPs can read. Sony is hoping to combat online piracy starting in March when it begins selling movies online via its Connect digital media store. Users will be able to download a pic and watch it on PSP without a disc."

afaik_ianal writes "The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that 'Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure' has been banned in Australia. The game involves battling the authorities to overthrow corrupt officials using only street fighting skills and graffiti. From the article, "The decision was endorsed last night by the Federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, who had asked the board to review of the game's MA15+ classification after local councils and state governments voiced concerns that the game would promote graffiti.""

Last week's Gamasutra question of the week dealt with the possibility of new genres for Nintendo's Revolution system. Some interesting answers from the industry, as always. From the article: "I would say the interesting part is not what new genres will come about, but how most existing genres will be transformed by this. For example, fighting games will no longer have to be about special moves and combos when you can simply put one controller in each hand and start punching and blocking like in real life (maybe strap one on a leg to kick). "