Caves of Narshe
http://www.cavesofnarshe.com/
This page can be found online at http://www.cavesofnarshe.com/news/date/2010/04/

News

News from April 2010

Supreme Court to Review Video Game Violence Law


As of this Monday, the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) agreed to hear a case related to video games arising in California. Instead of sending the law back to the 9th Circuit Court of California (which struck down the video game law), SCOTUS will review the decision some time after their next session begins October 4.

The law, authored by California State Senator Leland Yee, made it illegal to rent or sell violent video games to minors with a $1,000 penalty against the retailers. The video game violence bill was passed through the Californian legislature in 2005, and since then has passed through the U.S. District Court and the 9th Circuit Court. Each court has struck down the law, arguing that the legislation violated the First Amendment, citing video games as protected speech, just as movies and music have been. The lower courts have also denied certain studies relating video games to violence, stating that as of the moment no studies conclusively find that video games directly cause violence.

The name of the case will be as follows:

SCHWARZENEGGER, GOV. OF CA V. ENTERTAINMENT MERCHANTS, ET AL.

Now, despite the comedic irony that the Terminator is sponsoring anti-video game legislation, this is a serious case. The question will be whether the Supreme Court will grant the same protections to video games as they and the lower courts have music and movies. And this is very likely to ignite a debate about video games and violence again.

Source: GamePolitics, SupremeCourt.gov
Posted in: North America
(38 Comments – Last by BlitzSage)
Share on Facebook Share

Slightly Later Fanfiction Update


Caves of Narshe Site News
Today, we have for you, a small but rather delayed update to the Fanfiction section. There are a variety of excuses for the slow pace of the updates, nearly all of them involving zombies of some sort.

First up in Final Fantasy IV's fanfic section, we have the first submission to CoN by wyvern14. "Twin Moons" is a story following Edge and Rydia towards the end of the game, and their relationship. We hope there's more where this came from.

Moving on and moving the I in the roman numeral to the other end to get the Final Fantasy VI section, the latest addition is a second story from MeaPortia, "A Night at the Opera", which as the title implies, chronicles the events at the Opera house in all the chaotic detail.

Finally, in the Final Fantasy Tactics section, we have two more great submissions by L. Cully. "Vigil" follows Delita as he ponders more than the honour he has been given, with some non-explicit allusions to adult themes. "The Prodigal One" meanwhile sees Meliadoul reflect on her past and ponder her future.

That concludes our update for today, so please, read them, and comment here or in their original threads if you wish. Maybe you wish to encourage a faster update in future after reading them, and there's one very simple way to do this: Submit your own fanfiction work at the site submissions section of the forums. Who knows, maybe next time I'll upload them without breaking every fanfic section I add something to?
Posted in: CoN Site News
(3 Comments – Last by Kane)
Share on Facebook Share

Distant Worlds Returns Again


Distant Worlds
I just got another email from the good folks at Square Enix, advertising even more Distant Worlds shows from the ones I spoke about late last year. Most of that old news is still valid - there's still a CD coming out in June, the contents of that CD will be played at the summer Distant Worlds shows, and they're still going to Stockholm, San Francisco, San Diego, and Chicago.

The new news this time around is the addition of a series of new shows between San Diego and Chicago this summer, and after Chicago as well. Perhaps you're lucky enough to be nearby:

Houston, Texas - 24 July 2010
Washington, DC (Vienna, Virginia) - 30 July 2010
Toronto, Ontario - 27 November 2010

And again, if I can find the new CD on AmaCoN, I'll get it to you here.

Source: Distant Worlds
Posted in: Square-Enix News
(2 Comments – Last by Shinrin)
Share on Facebook Share

Square-Enix AllStar Tidbits


Square Enix
Good afternoon, fellow CoNers. These past two weeks have been interesting - a lot of Square-Enix's different franchises have been newsworthy recently. Yes, even their lesser-known "Final Fantasy" series. Weird, huh?

First up, our favourite classic Final Fantasy artist, Yoshitaka Amano, is directing his first feature film. It's title is Zan, which just makes me think of the evil robot in UT that's the alpha and omega - but that's neither here nor there. Unless the film is about that, which would be awesome. In addition, "The 4 Heroes of Light" has been trademarked by Squenix, which means that the DS game, Final Fantasy Gaiden, that was "announced" last year, may be seeing a Western release sometime in the near future. Also, an interesting documentation of someone's journey through the Final Fantasy XIV playtest, which gives insight into many of the upcoming MMORPG's features.

What do Square-Enix and Hideo Kojima have in common? Apart from both being mainly Sony until last year's E3 where they both (partially) defected to Microsoft, I mean. Well, the former are creating some figurines for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Interestingly enough, there will also be some cross-functionality with Square-Enix's upcoming game Front Mission: Evolved. If there was one great thing about MGS4, it was piloting Rex. This is what I am hoping for.

Finally, Dragon Quest! As everyone should know, I know nothing of Dragon Quest, but I've never even heard of Dragon Quest Arcade. But apparently it's getting a Wii port, which will also make use of the DSi's connectivity and camera and technological gubbins, which you also need to download an application for. Seems a bit overly complicated, but hey, Square-Enix LOVE their money.

<3

Source: Kotaku, 1Up
Posted in: Square-Enix News, RPG News
(0 Comments)
Share on Facebook Share

South Korea to Limit Online Gaming


Here's some news that seems to be all over the internet already, but happily won't impact, well, probably any of our regular readers. However, for those of you with ties to South Korea, note that the next time you visit you might not be able to play some games in the wee hours of the day.

The Korea Herald reports that the government is going to shut down various online games for six hour windows every night, with the windows being selected from three choices by each household. Apparently, homes in Korea have unique identifiers that are used for any sort of online registration, and this will allow the central government to shutter access as the central clock ticks over to the start of the selected window.

The government in South Korea is testing the system out now on four games, with another fifteen to be included in a few months. The entire list is unclear to me at the moment, though with the nineteen total games inclusive of "79 percent of the online gaming market," it would not surprise me to find that at some point Square Enix' online entries might soon find themselves under the restriction.

Source: Korea Herald
Posted in: Gaming Industry News, The World at Large
(20 Comments – Last by Rangers51)
Share on Facebook Share

Pokemon Black and White Announced for Nintendo DS


Nintendo DS
Yes, you read that correctly. Pokemon will officially begin its fifth generation this fall with Pokemon Black and Pokemon White for the Nintendo DS. A worldwide release is inevitable, but for now has no official date. Nintendo will reveal more in a press conference on 15 April.

The second source listed here is an unconfirmed leaked image of the Pokemon found in the game. It seems genuine, but it should not be assumed true as of yet.

Source: Kotaku, The Black & White Pokedex
Posted in: RPG News
(21 Comments – Last by laszlow)
Share on Facebook Share

Caves of Narshe Interviewed by 1up.com


Caves of Narshe Site News
1up.com published today a feature detailing the storied history of video game fansites, and among the sites discussed is our very own CoN. 1up interviewed Rangers51 for the article, which also includes discussion of and interviews with other major fansites of the past and present, including The GIA and The Mushroom Kingdom. While we're buried a bit at the back of the article, we're proud to be mentioned among these influential sites, and we'll be more than content to outlive them all and then see who is laughing and then the people who are laughing will be us ahahahahah.

Ahem. In any event, please have a look at the article over at 1up, and be sure to share it with your friends via Twitter and Facebook. Additionally, for those who might be interested in the full text of the interview beyond the abridged version, you can find the complete version right here on CoN. Thanks to 1up for talking with us, and thanks to all of you for keeping us large and relevant enough to be a part of this feature!
Posted in: CoN Site News
(8 Comments – Last by Galsic)
Share on Facebook Share

Friday Tidbits - Emphasis on the Tid?


Square Enix
It's been pretty slow for Square-Enix recently - everyone's been playing Final Fantasy XIII instead of talking about it. So what's next? Well, of course they're going to release merchandise. Figurines of Snow, Lightning and Vanille, and Serah's earrings are now available from the US store. The figurines, as always, look kind of dodgy. But now that XIII is out of the way, Why, Final Fantasy XIV is of course next. The first wave of beta testers have been selected, but that does not mean there aren't still opportunities. There will be more chances in the future, so you can still sign up! And what's more, Square-Enix have started a new website containing more information, video blogs, and a wiki! Development seems to be progressing well on XIV. And here, take a look at the new "tribes" of the game. Neko Neko Mawaii.

But enough with all the newer Final Fantasys. Remember how awesome IX was? Yeah. It looks like Final Fantasy IX will be soon heading towards the Playstation Network. This is very excellent news. I still have my discs, battered as they may be, but I demand that anyone who hasn't played IX should choose that over XIII if given a choice. It would be the next game we covered if I had my way. But alas. UPDATE: Wait, it's been confirmed. Hooray! Oh, but they're still looking at Final Fantasy VII remake possibilities. Still. This has got to stop.

Yeah, that's all for now. What news will there be in the coming weeks, I wonder?

Source: Kotaku, 1UP, Square Enix
Posted in: Square-Enix News
(6 Comments – Last by ILoveMoombas!)
Share on Facebook Share

April 1st - Because We Love Shenanigans


Caves of Narshe Site News
In years past, CoN has played many a practical joke on its users. They were all hilarious, and everyone enjoyed a good laugh, mostly at the expense of those fooled. However, this year, starved of inspiration and a decent amount of time, we decided to do something a little different. A treasure hunt, if you will. Easter's coming up, and who doesn't like searching around for the Easter Eggs hidden in every nook and cranny of a house? Or, in this case, a website.

Today, we have initiated a small change to every page on CoN. It's subtle enough that we're breaking tradition to tell you about it, but we've decided to challenge you to find the pieces of our puzzle, and put it all together. Of course, no competitiveness is without rewards for success. At the very least, you can win a special CoN award, and possibly more. Throughout the day, we will update this thread (But not this specific post) with any members who have fully and successfully solved the puzzle. And believe us, we WILL know. We're special like that.

We have no current intention of giving away clues either. That goes for in the forums, in a PM, or in chat. You're on your own, folks - but if you choose to band together as one mighty force, then more power to you. However you tackle it, we masterminds wish you the best of luck.

Ready... set.......... GO.
Posted in: CoN Site News
(5 Comments – Last by mertinatron)
Share on Facebook Share

Caves of Narshe Version 6
©1997–2024 Josh Alvies (Rangers51)

Note: this printable version may not contain the entire contents of the full version. In particular, web forms are removed, and any links you could check for further information on the given data are not shown. You may check the URL at the top of this document for the full and up-to-date version.
All fanfiction and fanart (including original artwork in forum avatars) is property of the original authors. Some graphics property of Square Enix.