Odd. I'd have thought that the product placement ban only applied, understandably, to BBC shows but it's apparently something which applies to the commercial stations as well (though not imported shows, presumably).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/11/product-placement-ban-continues

I assume that since Nintendo is actually paying for the show, there'll be some greater level of advertising than just slots at the beginning and end of each break, which they do quite often anyway.

Unfortunately, the FM tuner will probably become useless faster than the tapes, once radio stations start switching to digital only.

I suppose you could get an iTrip and use it to broadcast from your iPod to the radio on the Walkman but... Actually, that might be kind of cool.

As I understand it, the devs submit information on the game to PEGI, or rather to an independent board in the Netherlands. The Dutch, while quite crazy, aren't exactly tight, but that doesn't really matter much here. If you compare the ratings on most games, the BBFC and PEGI tended to give pretty much the same age ratings anyway, and PEGI simply adds more information with its pictograms. The only difference between the systems that'll matter much to consumers is that the BBFC had a 15 rating whereas PEGI has a 16.

As for recognisability, all it really boils down to is looking at a number, comparing it to a child's age and allowing them to have it if their age is greater than the number. I'd hope that most people, European, British or sufficiently well-trained monkey, could cope with that regardless of which system they're familiar with.

Rare's had a weird time since the SNES/N64 heyday. With the Free Radical split taking a fair chunk of their talent, the company founders leaving a couple of years ago and the whole Microsoft acquisition, they seem to just now be finding their feet again.

If you look at their mediocre output, it tends to be ones that have had long development times or switched platforms. Even before the Microsoft deal, Star Fox Adventures (which isn't a bad game, really) went from N64 to Gamecube (and became an SF game) during development. Perfect Dark Zero went from GC to Xbox to 360 launch title and was in development for years. Ditto with Kameo, which I believe was originally planned as an early GC title.

Looking at the more recent stuff, Viva Pinata and Nuts & Bolts, they seem to be improving. Possibly not the megasellers they were but getting critical acclaim and filling a niche on the 360. I suppose it's good that Molyneux is recognising that.

Hey, you're right - latest news Joystiq seems to have about Factor 5 was when they laid off about half their staff last week, apparently after not paying them for quite a while.

A quick google search suggests that the main source of the Factor 5 shutting down story was a message by Matt Casamassina on the IGN forums a couple of days ago. Fairly easy to miss, given it's a weekend and there's been no official statement, I guess. FR's probably getting the attention because there's more info going around.

Sad week in gaming history though - two great devs apparently killed off by one poor/mediocre game each.

Actually, a fair number of them aren't - the co-founders left to form a new company a short time ago and I think they took a few key people with them. Doesn't necessarily mean that the ones still there are useless but it's pretty disheartening.

Presumably a result of the commercial failure (or just insufficient success, I don't really know the exact figures) of Haze, combined with the lack of a major seller since the last 'Splitters in 2005 and the general state of the economy.

Still a shame though, especially since a new 'Splitters and Battlefront 3 would probably have been more than enough to keep them going. It wouldn't be ideal but it would be better if they were swallowed up by some big company than if they just closed down completely.

"I could argue that some other competing formats are on their way down right now."

Yes, and I could argue that black is white and promptly get myself killed on the next zebra crossing .

I'm trying to think of a pun involving patches, leading to eye patches which leads to pirates, so I can make a joke about the PSP's constant anti-homebrew firmware updates but I've got nothing.

They seem to be much more concerned about IPs than developers. They kept Halo when Bungie went, PGR when Activision bought Bizarre and I think they've still got a few of the FASA IPs (Crimson Skies and maybe some others). If this rumour's true, they'll presumably still have all the "Age Of..." rights.

Someone really ought to explain to them what can happen to a brand when the good products aren't there to back it up. Maybe someone should put them in touch with Sonic Team...

LFG stands for Looking For Group. Generally used in MMOs when people are... looking for a group. I guess it's kind of self-explanatory once you know what it stands for.

I expect there are big queues and waits for certain demos, etc., so rather than waiting in line for ages you get a ticket and come back when it's your turn. That's the only reason I can think of.