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EU Commission looks to harmonize game age restrictions
Are you thinking about selling little Francois Quatorze (that's "fourteen" in French) that copy of Dead Rising he keeps eyeballing? Think again. European Union Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini is seeking to harmonize the rules concerning the sale of video games to minors. The Reuters article specifically cites 16 as the age in question, as Europe ratings board PEGI uses a 16+ rating for games typically rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB. Frattini opines that under current EU-wide rules, retailers still do not consistently check the consumer's age when selling 16-rated video games.Said Frattini, "I do want to harmonise rules ... punishing people illegally selling products, people not controlling and checking identity."The key element here is that Frattini does not want to universal agreement as to which games receive what age restrictions, as the tolerance of certain content factors differ amongst the EU's 27 nations. Germany, for example, recently banned (by means of ratings refusal) a handful of high-profile titles such as Gears of War, Dead Rising, and Crackdown.
Europeans now have optional FM tuner on Sansas
We're not sure how this one slipped under the radar, but earlier this month, Sansa announced that its e200 and c200 (pictured) MP3 player series would be coming to Europe with and without FM tuners. Apparently, all players that ship with an FM tuner are subject to an additional tax by the European Union, and Sansa was originally afraid that people wouldn't buy the player with a slightly raised price. Well, Sansa has come to its senses and realized that people probably would be willing to pay just 10 percent more to have the pleasure of gettin' that good ol' fashioned radio right on the same device. The new versions, with and without radio, should be on European shelves already, just in time for Chrismahanukwanzakah.[Via Trusted Reviews]
Haptics research underway so you can virtually feel fabrics
We're not really sure that there's going to be any consumer haptics devices outside the context of a video game anytime soon, but that hasn't stopped the European Union from funding the HAPTEX (HAPtic sensing of virtual TEXtiles) project. Haptics, of course, is the study of touch sensory feedback, and scientists at the University of Geneva are currently working on a project that will incorporate touch into your online shopping. So let's say that you're looking online to buy pants, but you're not sure if you want corduroys or jeans -- in case you didn't know what those materials felt like, you'd touch a device that would allow you to feel the various textures. The project is due to end exactly one year from now, so that's when we'll find out if the €1.66 million ($2.11 million) that EU taxpayers shelled out was really worth it -- and what devices, if any, will come to fruition.
Play-Asia, other importers cease taking EU orders for PS3
With Lik-Sang having gone the way of the dodo bird, some overseas customers were confident that other companies like Play-Asia would still be able to fill their gaming jones -- except now we've learned that this gray market importer and several others have also decided to put the brakes on shipping the PS3 to European customers. Our sister blog, Joystiq, reported earlier today that the Play-Asia just emailed a succinct message to its customers: "We regret to inform you that due to licensing and distribution limitations, Play-Asia.com will not be able to send PlayStation3 branded products to your territory." The company also updated its terms and conditions, saying: "PS3 will not be shipped to any countries in the European Union (EU)." Damn, it looks like our friends in Europe will just have to wait this one out after all.[Via Joystiq]
Play-Asia quietly cancels PS3 pre-orders to Europe
Not wanting to tempt fate, Play-Asia has backed out of PlayStation 3 pre-orders destined for European territories. The online import specialist emailed this brief explanation to customers today:"We regret to inform you that due to licensing and distribution limitations, Play-Asia.com will not be able to send PlayStation3 branded products to your territory."Play-Asia's pre-orders for PS3 launch titles and accessories have also been "closed." Pro-G notes that other import sites are taking the same precautions, with YesAsia clearly noting: "PS3 will not be shipped to any countries in the European Union (EU)."
Vista to ship on time in EU after all
Earlier today we reported the Sony's PS3 would not be delayed in Europe, and now Microsoft is getting the same break as well. The Redmond crew has worked out its differences with the European Commission's antitrust concerns, which will let Microsoft release Vista on schedule (relatively speaking, anyway). Microsoft finally agreed to modify Vista to suit the demands of European as well as South Korean regulators -- we're not exactly sure what that means, but the Agence France Presse reports: "The changes notably will make it easier for users to pick the internet search provider of their choice and allow other firms greater access to Vista's security components." So yeah, Vista's got that going for it now.
Sony: European PS3 delay "not true"
Well, apparently Sony caught wind of the reports of possible PS3 delays in Europe and has vehemently denied them. According to an unnamed Sony spokesperson quoted in GamesIndustry.biz: "Any reports of a further delay to the launch of the PS3 in Europe are categorically not true. We are still fully committed to a March 2007 launch date. Ken Kutaragi has not done any media briefings since the Tokyo Game Show, and the story is not true." So there you have it Europeans, you can rest easy now -- you've still got only five months to come up with those 500 euros ($627).
EU trials continuous RFID monitoring in airports
If you thought toting an RFID-enabled passport was infringing on your so-called privacy, the European Union is going the extra mile to ensure you completely relinquish any remaining aspects of personal choice when you enter its airports. On a mission to "improve airport efficiency, security and passenger flow" (read: keep a constant eye on your every twitch), the EU is dropping €2 million ($2.5 million) on the Optag project, which allow airports to toss a newly-developed RFID tag around the necks of all incoming passengers. The tags, crafted by University College London's antennas and radar group, have an unusually long range -- "about 10 to 20 meters" -- and can pinpoint the location of whomever is donning them to "within one meter." Developed to ensure "a quicker stream of airport traffic," the chips are continuously monitored for deviant or suspicious behavior, and a network of "high definition cameras" (1080p?) are in place to track your every move. For those of you traveling through Hungary's Debrecen Airport, you should probably arrive prepared to rock a newfangled necklace for the duration of your stay, but try not to let that constant reminder of Big Brother's omnipotence get you down.
A chance to get in to the BC beta!
At present, I'm only seeing this contest up on the European website, but it wouldn't surprise me to find a similar affair on the US website soon. (If not, expect more moaning on the forums than usual over the next few days.) Winning is simple -- just take a screenshot of your guild near a well-known NPC. So get out your fanciest clothes and get searching for that perfect spot. The best 40 entries will receive 25 beta keys for the guild. Now get going -- you only have until October 5th to send in your entry!
Swarmanoid robot project foreshadows certain robotic takeover
So we had a glimpse of what thousands of robotic creatures linked together in harmonic teamwork looked like last year, but certainly didn't expect the European Union to go and drop £1,850,000 ($3,482,810) to make this kind of thing a serious endeavor. Nonetheless, an EU-sponsored 42-month research program into so-called swarm bots is set to commence next month, and will be led by Dr. Marco Dorigo of the University Libre de Bruxelles. The primary focus (aside from instilling an imminent fear of global robotic dominance) is to create a small army of specialized robots that can successfully "adapt to live in buildings," and help us common folk out while they're at it. The project will focus on 60 "dynamically connected autonomous 'bots," known collectively as a Swarmanoid, that consists of eye-bots, hand-bots, and foot-bots. While the names are fairly self-explanatory, eye-bots will handle the vision aspect while grappled onto ceilings, conveying the info to hand-bots (wall climbers and grabbers) and foot-bots (ground terrain specialists). Ultimately, the research team would like to see the bots solve certain "problems" by relying solely on one another's skill sets, and while we are admittedly frightened at what that really means, we'll just cross our fingers that the humans will still be the ones in control 3.5 years from now.[Via Robot Gossip]
EU Maintenance Extended
Proving that the US isn't the only one with extended weekly maintenance periods, CM Thundgot tells us that EU realms will be down until 16:00 CEST today. Here's to hoping Blizzard figured out something from the many problems with the US patch roll-out and the deployment over the European realms will go more smoothly.
Hardware Upgrades Coming for EU Servers
CM Thundgot has announced plans to retrofit all existing realms with new hardware over the next month - in preparation for the expansion's release. These upgrades should result in an immediate performance improvement - however, the realms involved can expect additional downtime periods in which to perform these upgrades. The realms needing upgrades have been divided into three groups, and will be receiving upgrades group at a time (with specific dates and times to be announced).
EU Cross-Realm Battlegroups Announced
Battlegroups - groups of realms that will share players in the cross-realm battleground system that will be coming in patch 1.12 - have been announced for the EU servers. English language battlegroups are listed here, German here, and French here. Some of the English battlegroups look especially odd, with both very large and very small groupings - battlegroup 1 contains 18 realms and battlegroup 9 contains only 2. However, since these assignments reflect hardware settings (server clusters), there's probably not a lot of room to tweak the individual battlegroup configurations.
EU investigating HD DVD, Blu-ray licensing terms
Both high definition optical disc formats have already seen their share of setbacks in the form of delays and hardware problems, and now they may be facing some nasty anti-trust allegations pending the results of a recently-launched EU probe. Having already flexed its authoritative muscle against Microsoft, the European Commission has now moved on to investigating the terms that the major backers of Blu-ray and HD DVD are exerting upon their respective licensees. Since the investigation is still "unofficial" at this point, the Commission refused to specify the particular companies being probed, although Sony publicly confirmed that it has received one of the letters in question and that it's cooperating with regulators. If these same regulators decide that nothing fishy is going on, then the matter will be dropped; but if they're displeased with the responses they get, a full anti-trust probe is likely. Best case scenario: only one of the camps ends up being subjected to further scrutiny, leaving the other as clear-cut victor in the format war and saving us all the hassle of choosing sides.
EU investigating (unoffically) anti-trust issues on Blu-ray & HD DVD
The European Commission has started a probe into the licensing strategies of HD DVD and Blu-ray. They are concerned that the two arch-enemies rival formats are not breaking any European competition rules. Keep in mind that this is not an official investigation yet, just a probe. The EU is not indicating who they sent requests for more information too, nor how many companies are involved. We really don't have much more info right now as it seems like this probe was just launched a few hours ago but we will keep you up to date. This investigation is based in Europe so we still don't know how much this will effect us here in the US, but we are guessing that if somewhere down the road one of these formats need to pack up shop then we will feel it here.How much do you think this could effect the format war here in the States?
EU hits Microsoft with $357 million fine
Even though we've resigned ourselves to the fact that Windows Vista isn't coming out until it's good and ready, EU regulators aren't as forgiving as us when it comes to Microsoft playing the delay game, and have hit the software giant with a $357 million fine based on that 2004 anti-competition ruling. What's more, EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes has decided to slap the company with a three million euro-per-day fine starting on July 31st if the document disclosure stipulation of the original decision -- which requires Microsoft to make the Windows source code more accessible to rivals provide technical information to makers of competing server software -- has not been fulfilled. Redmond, for its part, claims that it has been fully cooperating with regulators; general counsel Brad Smith argues that the commission's original demand was too vague, and therefore the issue is not one of compliance but clarity. In the end, Microsoft can complain all day and night about unfair rulings and unclear requirements, but if it wants to continue having unfettered access to the lucrative European market, it seems the company has little choice but to toe the line on this one.
Community Events in the EU
The EU site, which always seems to be better at keeping up with community news, has recently started a Community Events page. Players will be able to submit community events information that will be featured on the Blizzard web site. This seems like a great idea to me, highlighting community events in a single, easy to find place is much better than having them spread out across the general noise of the forums. So, EU players, get submitting!
Vodafone and T-Mobile reduce roaming rates
At the risk of being forced into lowering their lucrative roaming fees across Europe, Vodafone and T-Mobile have agreed to cut these charges under their own, likely more-favorable terms. See, just yesterday Vodafone announced a drop by 40% for UK customers traveling in some 14 European countries... with a few catches. First, customers must register for a free "Vodafone Passport" which allows punters to be charged at UK rates after suffering a one-off connection fee of 75p ($1.38) per call. Kind of the equivalent of those mail-in rebates companies know we'll forget to return. Oh, and the discount won't go into effect until April 2007. T-Mobile is taking a different, more straight-up approach by charging a flat rate of 55p ($1.02) per minute for calls in Europe and North America starting June 1st -- a 27% savings over existing contract rates. It's not clear if these changes will appease the concerns of EU Commissioner Vivian Reding, but at least it's a step in the right direction.
Toshiba goes WEEE in Europe
It may be a few days post-Earth Day, but it's still worth noting that yesterday, Toshiba TEC Europe became the first retail and industrial automation solutions provider to announce full compliance with Europe's Directive on Waste management of Electrical and Electronic Equipment -- or WEEE as people close to er, waste (and gaming) prefer. The WEEE Directive, while not (yet) law, does set targets related to waste production, management, and collection in the EU. From 1 July 2006, lead, mercury, cadmium and 6-chrome will no longer be found in new Toshiba products, nor will RoHS halogenated flame retardants by used in their polymers. We commend you Toshiba, on your dedication to WEEE.
World First: C'thun Down
Only hours after Blizzard made additional changes to the C'thun encounter, European guild Nihilum (Magtheridon realm) seems to have managed to kill C'thun. Forum post with details here, and screenshots and loot are listed on their website. Congrats, members of Nihilum for this impressive world first![Thanks, spencer, for the quick heads-up on this one!]
