Toys for Kids & Adults

Cute Stroller Toys From Tiny Love
A few weeks back, I was in the mall shopping and suddenly a flash of color caught my eye. A mommy next to me was pushing a stroller with a…

Have a Wonderful Time with these Snow Toys!
Snowy white winters are beautiful to look at. But, guess what? Snow can be so much more fun if you have the right snow toys to play with! Kids love…

ActiviTot Play Gym from Tiny Love
I've tried out lots of other baby gyms, but they all have something or the other that I'm not happy about. After all, who can be perfectly satisfied when it…

So, Your Kid Wants To Be The Next Rock Star?
Kids love to hear themselves sing no matter what age they are! Kiddy songs right from nursery rhymes to Kidz Bop to songs from TV series are very popular. It's…

Toy Fair 2007 - Do's and Don'ts of PR, Marketing and Promotion
Toy Fair 2007 is just around the corner! I can literally feel the excitement in the air. Things are heating up for the toy manufacturers, public relations agencies, buyers and…

Fascinate Baby with Great New Products from School Zone!
Are you looking for ways to boost up your baby's learning and recognition skills? School Zone has introduced it's new baby line, which includes puzzles, flash cards and developmental activities….

Virtual drug use keeps Blitz out of Australia
Blitz: The League, Midway’s Xbox 360 American football game, has been denied classification by Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification (the “OFLC”), thereby preventing sale of the video game in that country. At issue for the OFLC is the…(read more)

BLAME CANADA
The International Intellectual Property Alliance, a coalition of US movie, music and software providers (which, most relevantly for our purposes, includes the ESA), has issued a report urging the US government to add Canada to the list of countries that…(read more)

Activision faces possible Nasdaq delisting
Activision, having failed to file its earnings in a timely manner for the quarter ended December 31, 2006, has received its second warning by the Nasdaq. The company, which also failed to file its earnings on time for the previous financial quarter, has…(read more)

Take-Two Completes Option Backdating Investigation
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) has completed its backdating investigation and has found no misconduct by its current top executives. Take-Two investigation revealed certain “improprieties” in the process of granting the options and…(read more)

2 GAMES BILLS INTRODUCED IN NY

Two bills dealing with video games were recently introduced in the New York State Assembly. Bill A00547, introduced by Keith Wright, prohibits the sale to minors of certain rated video games containing a rating that reflects content of various degrees of profanity, racist stereotypes or derogatory language, and/or actions toward a specific group of persons. This bill would prohibit the sale to minors of games which depict, advocate or glamorize things such as the commission of violent crimes, suicide, sexual violence, violent racism or religious violence. It would also require retailers to check ID for game buyers who appear to be 30 or younger.

Bill A02024, introduced by Aurelia Greene, prohibits the sale of mature or violent video games to minors, and provides for the display of such videos in a manner to preclude access by minors (in other words, retailers would have to keep mature-themed games in a separate area that minors cannot access).

Both bills have been referred to the NY Assembly’s Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection.

Bill A00547:http://tinyurl.com/yfy66n

Coverage of Bill A00547:http://tinyurl.com/y4ad9f (GamePolitics)

Bill A02024: http://tinyurl.com/yc9×6o

Coverage of Bill A02024:http://tinyurl.com/y4ownw(GamePolitics)

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Gamecube'Zelda: Twilight Princess'in stores today — Wii walkthrough will work
Today is a huge day for Gamecube gamers in the US, as today is the day when Gamecube version of'The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess'begins trickling onto store shelves. Booya! I say'trickling'because a) the game…

Zelda cupcakes
The combination of it being a slow video game news day and my stomach rumbling with hunger has forced me to post the most delicious Zelda cake solution ever created. Mmm…imagine all of the 8-bit possibilities? Mario cupcakes for my…

A creepier version of'Resident Evil 4'
I would easily place Resident Evil 4 on my list of top ten video games. It was beautiful, creepy, challenging and a hell of a lot of fun. I will forever have etched in my brain the experience of innocently…

'Zelda: Twilight Princess'walkthrough success
Just a little note to say'thanks'to everyone making use of our Zelda: Twilight Princess walkthrough. It has become our most heavily trafficed walkthrough, and is on the way to defeating our current best seller, the LB LEGO Star…

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More Winning Trades - eSignal Data Feeds - Sponsored Link
Ad - Stay on top of the market with real-time quotes, charts, news and more

Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle Demo
Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle Demo A playable demo of Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle has been released. You can download the 431Mb demo from one of the following mirrors. Via . posted by on Friday, 09 February, 2007 at 16:28:59 Came direct to

Gears of War Scoops Up AIAS Awards
Extract not available.

Guitar Hero II: Xbox 360
Guitar Hero II shreds its way onto the Xbox 360, taking the series to 11 and beyond. Table of Contents With more goodies than your little brother's Halloween basket, Guitar Hero II on the Xbox 360 packs a wallop of new features over the PlayStation 2

Pirates of the Burning Sea - Interview and Exclusive Screenshots
Staci: For those unfamiliar with your title, what is the backstory behind your game? Jess: The year is 1720. In Europe, open hostilities between the British, French, and Spanish are cooling off, but their territories in the New World are a different

Gallery: The Godfather The Don's Edition
review Mid-way between okay and great, Luke discovers preview Paul shakes his fist at the Gods once again article Games to look out for over the next 12 months review All conquering, says Andrew review Heaven-sent? interview Lead Game Designer talks on

SingStar Pops into America
showUSloc=(checkLocale('uk')||checkLocale('au'));document.writeln(showUSloc ? 'US, ' : ' - slipped word to IGN today that it would be bringing its fashionable SingStar Popworld title to US shores. Shortened to just 'SingStar Pop' in North America, the

Market Focus: Restaurant Industry (Impressions Magazine)
Serving the restaurant industry can be quite filling. Learn how promotional products can cater to your clients' needs.

The Market for Cat Care in France Increased between 2000-2005, Growing at an Average Annual Rate of 4.6% (wallstreet:online AG)
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c50043) has announced the addition

Important Kitchenware Retailers (The Gourmet Retailer)
SEPTEMBER 01, 2004 — Just as with the majority of our lists, selecting 25 important kitchenware retailers was an arduous chore that caused some heated discussions.

American International Toy Fair 2007 Exhibitor Profiles (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
NEW YORK—-American International Toy Fair 2007 takes place Feb. 11 - 14 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and Showroom locations in New York City. For in-depth information about the event, visit http://www.toyfairny.com/ .

Aqua Teen PR stunt bombs (p2pnet.net)
Waste of time and money

JACK THOMPSON IS IN HOT WATER - SURPRISED?
Apparently the blessing from Pope Benedict XVI wasn’t enough to help officials see things Jack Thompson’s way. The controversial attorney is facing a disciplinary hearing in Florida at least in part in connection with his conduct as the representative…(read more)

Anshe Chung's Husband Drops Lawsuit, Admits It Wasn't Really About Copyright…

…and more about the thousands of digital flying penises.  Guntram Graef, husband of Ailin Graef, better known asSecond Life's real estate mogul Anshe Chung, has withdrawn a complaint filed under theDigital Millenium Copyrightagainst YouTube for copyright infringement, after YouTube allowed clips to be posted of his wife's avatar being attacked by "a barrage of digital flying penises."  The, ahem, "attack" was launched by griefers during an appearance by Anshe Chung in CNET'sSecond Lifebureau for an interview.  Chung is a controversial figure inSecond Lifebecause of her dominance in the real estate market (the Graefs claim over US$1,000,000 in real-life assets arising from the value of their virtual properties, and boast that they currently employ 30 persons full-time in their studio in China to manage Chung's empire) and her omnipresent advertising presence.

Graef told CNET that he withdrew the complaint because "the real issue at hand wasn't at all about copyright," but about the offensive nature of the video and the trauma of seeing his wife's avatar sullied in such a manner.   Graef complained that there was no other way to compel YouTube to take down the video clip, and that theDMCAclaim was a last resort.

YouTube has since taken down the video for violating its terms of service.

An article about the infamous penis attack is available athttp://urlsnip.com/347194.

More coverage athttp://urlsnip.com/723898.

EULA's under attack!
(This posting was written by Andreas Lober at Schulte Riesenkampff in Germany). Leading computer gaming producers are under attack in Germany! The so-called "Verbraucherschutzzentrale" - a Consumer Protection Organisation - claims that the EULAs of Electronic…(read more)

2 GAMES BILLS INTRODUCED IN NY

Two bills dealing with video games were recently introduced in the New York State Assembly. Bill A00547, introduced by Keith Wright, prohibits the sale to minors of certain rated video games containing a rating that reflects content of various degrees of profanity, racist stereotypes or derogatory language, and/or actions toward a specific group of persons. This bill would prohibit the sale to minors of games which depict, advocate or glamorize things such as the commission of violent crimes, suicide, sexual violence, violent racism or religious violence. It would also require retailers to check ID for game buyers who appear to be 30 or younger.

Bill A02024, introduced by Aurelia Greene, prohibits the sale of mature or violent video games to minors, and provides for the display of such videos in a manner to preclude access by minors (in other words, retailers would have to keep mature-themed games in a separate area that minors cannot access).

Both bills have been referred to the NY Assembly’s Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection.

Bill A00547:http://tinyurl.com/yfy66n

Coverage of Bill A00547:http://tinyurl.com/y4ad9f (GamePolitics)

Bill A02024: http://tinyurl.com/yc9×6o

Coverage of Bill A02024:http://tinyurl.com/y4ownw(GamePolitics)

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Those Fake IDs Won't Fool Intelli-Check (BusinessWeek)
One of these days, CEO Frank Mandelbaum hopes Intelli-Check ( IDN ) (IDN), the company he founded, will become a generic term for systems to detect falsified IDs.

Linux driver development: Free! (p2pnet.net)
From toys to networking cards

How Bob Iger Unchained Disney (BusinessWeek)
For the past year, the media-entertainment complex (aka Hollywood) has provided riveting theater. But one entertainment colossus has been remarkably peaceful

Important Kitchenware Retailers (The Gourmet Retailer)
SEPTEMBER 01, 2004 — Just as with the majority of our lists, selecting 25 important kitchenware retailers was an arduous chore that caused some heated discussions.

2 GAMES BILLS INTRODUCED IN NY

Two bills dealing with video games were recently introduced in the New York State Assembly. Bill A00547, introduced by Keith Wright, prohibits the sale to minors of certain rated video games containing a rating that reflects content of various degrees of profanity, racist stereotypes or derogatory language, and/or actions toward a specific group of persons. This bill would prohibit the sale to minors of games which depict, advocate or glamorize things such as the commission of violent crimes, suicide, sexual violence, violent racism or religious violence. It would also require retailers to check ID for game buyers who appear to be 30 or younger.

Bill A02024, introduced by Aurelia Greene, prohibits the sale of mature or violent video games to minors, and provides for the display of such videos in a manner to preclude access by minors (in other words, retailers would have to keep mature-themed games in a separate area that minors cannot access).

Both bills have been referred to the NY Assembly’s Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection.

Bill A00547:http://tinyurl.com/yfy66n

Coverage of Bill A00547:http://tinyurl.com/y4ad9f (GamePolitics)

Bill A02024: http://tinyurl.com/yc9×6o

Coverage of Bill A02024:http://tinyurl.com/y4ownw(GamePolitics)

PRODUCT PLACEMENT RISKS IN GERMANY

(This posting was written byAndreas Loberat Schulte Riesenkampff in Germany.)

Publishers' hopes for additional revenues created through product placement in games get a slash back with some recent decisions coming from Germany.

In Europe, many forms of product placement are currently illegal. While the European Parliament favors a liberalization, the German parliament wants to maintain the strict rules currently applicable in Europe's largest economy. 

A Munich court has decided recently that publishers may have to pay back product placement revenues to the advertisers even if the product placement was provided as agreed. Europeans assume that the customer may be mislead by product placement, which is considered as a form of camouflaged advertising.

Publsihers targeting an international audience are therefore well-advised to consider European legislation when designing the product placement, and when drafting the relevant advertising agreements.

The Munich case number is BayObLG München 29 U 4412/05.

Anshe Chung's Husband Drops Lawsuit, Admits It Wasn't Really About Copyright…

…and more about the thousands of digital flying penises.  Guntram Graef, husband of Ailin Graef, better known asSecond Life's real estate mogul Anshe Chung, has withdrawn a complaint filed under theDigital Millenium Copyrightagainst YouTube for copyright infringement, after YouTube allowed clips to be posted of his wife's avatar being attacked by "a barrage of digital flying penises."  The, ahem, "attack" was launched by griefers during an appearance by Anshe Chung in CNET'sSecond Lifebureau for an interview.  Chung is a controversial figure inSecond Lifebecause of her dominance in the real estate market (the Graefs claim over US$1,000,000 in real-life assets arising from the value of their virtual properties, and boast that they currently employ 30 persons full-time in their studio in China to manage Chung's empire) and her omnipresent advertising presence.

Graef told CNET that he withdrew the complaint because "the real issue at hand wasn't at all about copyright," but about the offensive nature of the video and the trauma of seeing his wife's avatar sullied in such a manner.   Graef complained that there was no other way to compel YouTube to take down the video clip, and that theDMCAclaim was a last resort.

YouTube has since taken down the video for violating its terms of service.

An article about the infamous penis attack is available athttp://urlsnip.com/347194.

More coverage athttp://urlsnip.com/723898.

Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony all named in patent infringement lawsuit

Fenner Investments, a Texas company, has sued all three console makers for violating its patent for a “Low-Voltage Joystick Port Interface”. The patent in question was originally developed by Lucent Technologies in 1998 and it is unclear how the patent was ultimately acquired by Fenner.

The law suit does not specify which consoles or controllers are alleged to violate the patent, nor does it set out the quantum of damages sought by Ferrier.

Nintendo and Microsoft have not responded to inquiries about the lawsuit, while a Sony rep has declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Coverage at:http://tinyurl.com/yhxj96 (Gamespot)

ACTIVISION DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH SPARK

In anearlier posting, we reported that Activision and new developer Spark Unlimited were involved in a lawsuit regardingCall of Duty: Finest Hour. 

Today Gamasutra published a feature on the contract and the dispute. The feature includes some comments from us, and (perhaps more interesting for you) also includes a copy of the actual development agreement between the parties. 

The feature is available here: http://tinyurl.com/wpx8j (Gamasutra)

SECOND LIFE GOES OPEN SOURCE

Second Life publisher Linden Lab has released virtual world’s viewer as open source software, and intends to do the same with the server software that runs the virtual world itself. Linden Lab released the viewer software under the open source General Public Licence (GPL), which allows anyone to view, change and distribute source code, but requires anyone who distributes modified software to make the changes available as well. Linden Lab will require programmers to sign a contributor agreement which gives Linden Lab joint ownership of the software; Linden Lab will also maintain control of an official version of the viewer software.

This is a big step in the games industry, as most large game companies prefer to keep their code proprietary. However, Linden Lab believes that Second Life lends itself to an open source approach, and also believes that it still has significant income potential even if software is open source.

Coverage from News.comhere.

Linden Lab press releasehere.

Those Fake IDs Won't Fool Intelli-Check (BusinessWeek)
One of these days, CEO Frank Mandelbaum hopes Intelli-Check ( IDN ) (IDN), the company he founded, will become a generic term for systems to detect falsified IDs.

Implementing PICS and P3P in ASP.NET Headers (WebProNews)
PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection) and P3P (Platform for Privacy Preferences) are two really nice things to be aware of when developing web applications. If your website targets children, maybe you sell toys, you should know about products like NetNanny that blocks access to certain websites based upon a lot of parameters. It's for the protection of children that parents …

Visual Communication And Online Image Editing Tools - The Best From Sharewood (MasterNewMedia.org)
Today, if you want to communicate effectively, whichever is your medium of choice, you must understand and leverage the power of visual communication . The more you understand the logic and principles that direct effective communication the more you can leverage the fascinating new digital image editing, data visualization and visual presentation tools springing up all around you. …

James Brown Partner Sues for Half of Estate (WPVI-TV Philadelphia)
The woman who claims to be James Brown's fourth wife wants half of the singer's estate and to be allowed back into the South Carolina home she was locked out of soon after his death.

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