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Amazon lets you check out Kindle books from library websites, asks you to shush yourself at home
Love libraries, but hate having to look at all of those dusty old books? Good news: following the recent Seattle-only launch, it's now possible to check out Amazon Kindle books from some 11,000 library sites, as long as you have a valid library card and an Amazon account. You can check a library's inventory (like their physical counterparts, the libraries only have a limited number of Kindle copies for each title) and download copies to your Kindle or Kindle app-enable device via WiFi or USB. Like the libraries' physical books, Kindle copies will carry an expiration date -- but after that time, they can either be renewed or purchased through Amazon, with all of your bookmarks and notations still in place. Press release after the break.
'Law of the Game' lawyer explores GameStop used vs. new controversy
Joystiq LGJ columnist Mark Methenitis has written a piece analyzing the claims posited earlier this week by Kotaku surrounding the legality of GameStop's employee "checkout policy" and found that, in his professional opinion, the illegality of this practice may be in question for a variety of reasons. The main question at hand: Is GameStop deceiving customers who purchase employee-played (read: "used") games as new? His answer: Much like most legal matters, it really depends. Depends on what, you ask? For one, Methenitis says games sold at GameStop as new where, "the disc, packaging, or other materials are damaged in any way, or if one-time use download codes are used" could be "a deceptive act." The problem with minutiae such as this, he says, is that damages are so small (monetarily speaking) that a lawsuit would be ineffective in court. Furthermore, he says that laws put in place to protect consumers from used vs. new item fraud are often based on products that degrade rather than "nebulous" products like DVD discs and, to a greater extent, cartridge-based games (such as Nintendo DS titles). With legal ambiguities surrounding this issue, we'd simply suggest buying used titles from your friendly, online click-and-order retailer in the meantime, rather than contributing to billions of dollars in used game sales at your own and other gamers' expense.
Wal-Mart gaming blog holds 'green gaming summit'
We couldn't help but feel a little guilty as we read about a recent "green gaming summit" held by Wal-Mart's gaming blog, Check Out. Perhaps it was the revelation that our consoles, which we constantly leave running in case of emergencies, waste as much energy in a year as six refrigerators. Perhaps it was the knowledge that our towering stack of plastic game cases released more greenhouse emissions during their creation than the average mid-sized car. Perhaps it was the fact that we read the article by light provided by a stack of burning tires and cans of hairspray that we keep in our foyer.The meeting of minds, which in addition to the retail behemoth's ludological division had representatives from Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Activision and Electronic Arts in attendance, resulted in the discussion of new industry practices that would focus on environmental sustainability, such as cardboard game cases and reduced-power standby modes for consoles. We suggest reading Check Out's write-up of the summit for a highly interesting (if not slightly inconvenient) read.
