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Owning Genres
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-10-16-does-anyone-own-the-battle-royale-genre I find the idea that a developer could own the rights to a video game genre to be ridiculous. It goes back to Boyden. There are so many ways in which a battle royale video game could be “expressed” that to allow the developers of PUBG to retain exclusive rights to all battle royale […]
Loot Boxes and Gambling
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/307428/Loot_boxes_dont_count_as_gambling_in_the_ESRBs_books.php I saw this piece in the News of the Week and found it interesting. The ESRB, which establishes age and content ratings for video games, has reasoned that loot boxes do not constitute gambling because the player is always guaranteed to win something–i.e. there is no risk of loss. While the particular item or […]
Taking Legal Action Against Cheaters
TL;DR – video game company sues cheating gamers for copyright infringement. I find this one really annoying. Shouldn’t they invest the money in making their product better instead of spending money on legal fees, chasing gamers? is this the right approach against cheaters? are they so beaten up? I don’t completely understand the reciprocation between […]
The Gaming Industry as a Case Study to the Implications of Cloud Computing
Last class, Anoop introduced the power of the cloud in the gaming industry. It reminded me an article I read about the early stages of the internet when classic mainframe systems were in use (explanation can be found here: https://goo.gl/pBgp4k). we could argue about the differences and the similarities between cloud computing and mainframe systems, […]
Acceleration to Authenticity: Emerging Trends in Online Legal Education
For those of you in class on Friday who witnessed me prattling on (hopefully as minimally as possible) about the pedagogical intentions behind what we are embarking on, and somehow are curious about that, you may want to sneak a peak at the slides attached above. They are from a presentation from the day before […]
Hacking of Video Game Networks
I happened to come across an interesting article this morning which discussed the need for a two-factor authentication system for Gaming Networks in the wake of the many data breaches over the past number of years: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/gaming-network-hacks-prove-need-two-factor-authentication/ This article highlights a concern for video game companies which acquire personal information of users, such as credit […]
Copyright in poses?
http://www.diyphotography.net/photographers-need-know-nike-sued-stealing-air-jordan-logo/
Can your online character be defamed?
A topic I considered for my paper, but later abandoned, was whether your online character (such as in an MMORPG) could be defamed. In certain games, your reputation is quite important and the goodwill you have accumulated in the community can directly affect your ability to enjoy, succeed, and even profit from the game. For […]
The Stanley Parable and Contracts
I finally got around to looking for the demo for “The Stanley Parable” game discussed previously. This involved signing up for Steam, an act I had avoided for reasons of removing temptations whilst still a student. Thus the entire process of getting the game off the internet and downloading involved assenting to four separate legal […]