In an effort to make their nation violent videogame-free, 16 German Interior Ministers have moved to ask the Bundestag (the equivalent of parliament in Germany) for a total ban on violent video games. If approved, this won't be just your average banhammer - this is a national banhammer that even goes as far as prohibiting violent game development in the country.

The acquisition by Crytek seems to be going great for Free Radical, er, Crytek UK. Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli has revealed that they've pretty much given the developer free reign in what projects they're pursuing.

As it turns out, neither Codemasters, Monumental, or those interested companies outside the video game industry were able to buy Free Radical Design. Instead, Germany-based Crytek was the one who ponied up the cash to get their hands on the Haze and TimeSplitters developer.

The big winner for the the recent 8th Annual Game Developers Conference Choice Awards was Valve Corporation's Portal as it won the prestigious Game of the Year award as well as three other honors for its innovative and unique gameplay. You can read about the other awardees and special recipients from the event  in the full article after the jump.

The Lyon Game Developers Conference debuted at this year's Game Connection in Europe but it seems the two will separate by next year. Owing to the success of the Lyon GDC, which featured keynotes from both Ubisoft and Crytek, the organizers hope to differentiate it from the main GDC by focusing on next-gen and multiplatform development. Read more in the full article.

How can a bunch of insanely loud alien bunnies power a game into becoming a popular franchise? The answers lie at this year's Lyon GDC, where Ubisoft's Nicolas Normandon and Loïc Gounon explains how humor and creative work helped establish the Rayman Raving Rabbids franchise. Find out more at the full article.

The holidays are looking good this year as Electronic Arts releases their line-up with some of the most anticipated games this season. They have everything for everybody from World War games to sports games, from fantasy games to shooters, with music games chucked in as the cherry on top of the icing.

First off is the FPS Crysis which will be out on November 16. Crytek will also be releasing a special edition of the game with a 16-page book full of concept art and other bonuses. Hellgate: London, where demons decimate the home of Big Ben, will be out on October 31.

The sequels to the ever popular Medal of Honor franchise will also be released next month. The PS3 version of Medal of Honor Airborne (also for Xbox 360 and PC, already out) will be released on November, and Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (Wii, PSP) will be out on November 13.

Two music games will also be hitting the market this holiday season to get your booties shakin'. Boogie (PS2, DS, Wii) will be out on November 15. Rock Band, whose special editions will be include a guitar, drums and a microphone, will be out on November 20 for the 360 and PS3, and on December 11 for the PS2.

Here are some other titles they'll be releasing before Santa Claus comes calling:

• Army of Two (November 13 for 360, PS3)
• Command & Conquer Saga (October)
• EA Playground (October 23 for Wii, DS)
• FIFA Soccer 08 (October 9 for 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS, PC, Mobile)
• Need for Speed Prostreet (November 14 for 360, PS3, ii, PS2, DS, PC, Mobile)
• Orcs & Elves (November 13 for DS)
• Orcs & Elves II (November for Mobile)
• Pictionary (December for Mobile)
• SimCity Societies (November 13 for PC, Mobile)
• Smarty Pants (November 19 for Wii)
• The Orange Box (October 9 for PC, 360, Holidays for PS3)
• The Sims DJ (December for Mobile)
• The Simpsons Game (October 30 for 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)

 

This year's Nordic Game developer's conference is starting off on a warm note, as we pick up word that 40 guest speakers are confirmed to be making it to the event. Aside from previously reported personalities like Paulina Bozek (SingStar) and Matsuura Masaya (LocoRoco), another high-profile speaker expected to visit the event is CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson. MMORPG gamers will recognize CCP as the developer/publisher behind EVE Online. As for the rest of the new faces this time around:

• Michael Khaimzon (Crytek)
• Maurice Suckling (Mustard Corporation)
• Kevin Bruner (Telltale Games)
• Dan Paladin (The Behemoth)
• Matias Myllyrinne (Remedy Entertainment, Alan Wake)
• Christian Seger and Niklas Westberg (Massive Entertainment)
• Ben Cousins (DICE)

DICE's Cousins is expected to give a presentation on how videogames are losing out to digital entertainment, while Mustard's Suckling is expected to give a talk on script-writing for MMOs. Those are the details for the moment, though we advise the readers to keep updated in case more information shows up.

Nordic Game 2007 is expected to take place this May 15 to 16, at the Malmo Exhibition & Convention Center in Malmo, Sweden. Early registrants may also want to hurry, as early-bird registrations are expected to end this March 31.

Recently, an entire chain of events has been sparked in Germany by a shooting incident which, supposedly, can ultimately be traced back to the violence portrayed in video games. First, it was the proposal which involves litigation of the people who made these types of games, then came the proposal to jail those who played these games, and just recently came the proposed bill which calls for the banning of such games.

Many have stated that perhaps the German Parliament members were just trying to look good in the eyes of the older members of the public. However, Tim Partlett, a game developer for Crytek who has been involved in such projects as Far Cry, points out in a revealing post that this sort of attitude from the German government has been around for longer than we think.

To quote a passage from his entry:

"In 2004 the Bavarian authorities sent in the state troopers. Ostensibly it was as a response to a claim made by a former employee that we had illegal software installed on our machines. Their remit, however, appeared to be a lot wider. When the small tech team appeared to inspect our computers, they were accompanied by over one hundred flak-jacketed riot police, all armed with Heckler and Koch sub-machine guns.

It was a total overreaction. It was like they expected to find us hunkered down behind our desks, pulling out our shotguns and semi-automatics and shouting "you'll never take me alive, polizei!" They arrived first thing in the morning, and kicked down our doors. They even raided the nearby private residences, with one of our programmers forced to lay down naked on the floor with a gun to his head after he discovered armed police in his room after finishing his shower."

He goes on to point out how another homicide has been blamed by the media on video games, and yet it was almost never mentioned that the suspect was drunk at the time and was already an unstable individual who was obsessed with violence to begin with.

For those who want to see another part of this picture, we would recommend that you go over Partlett's article for a minute or two by clicking on the link below (it'll take you to the Quarter to Three Forums), as it makes for both an educational and enlightening read.