Bangladeshi government threatens Sony
The government of Bangladesh has threatened to take legal action against Sony because of references to the country in the video game publisher's upcoming tactical shooter "SOCOM 3," according to Chinese news service Xinhua. The Bangladeshi government wants Sony to remove all mention of the country, which they allege portrays Bangladesh as a terrorist state.
"SOCOM 3" features gameplay in Bangladesh, Poland and Morocco. Only Bangladesh has formally expressed anger with the game. This is not the first time a nation has had a problem with a Sony. Canada's irritation with a scenario involving Quebecois separatists taking over a Toronto subway station in "Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain" led to Sony removing the level from the game in 2003.
'Conan the Barbarian' online game on the way
Funcom, developer of "Anarchy Online," announced Wednesday it is developing a new online role-playing game based on the famous Robert E. Howard character Conan the Cimmerian. "Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures" will be different from most massively multiplayer online RPGs in that it will begin as a story-driven single-player game and turn into a traditional multiplayer game once the story has ended.
"Conan" will most likely make an appearance at this May's E3 expo in Los Angeles. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played Conan in the movie, will most likely not.
Nintendo DS feeling blue
Nintendo announced last week that this summer it will ship an electric blue color variation of its latest handheld, the Nintendo DS. This comes after an announcement last month that four new colors (Graphite Black, Pure White, Turquoise Blue and Candy Pink) will be released in Japan. The DS launched stateside last November in silver.
'Scarface' adaptation on the way for consoles and PC
VU Games announced recently that not only is an adaptation of the classic mobster film "Scarface" on the way, called "Scarface: The World Is Yours," but it will feature the likeness of Al Pacino and the voices of most of the all-star cast, including James Woods, Jay Mohr and Cheech Marin. Al Pacino's voice will not appear in the game.
This announcement comes as part of a wave of recent movie-to-game adaptations starring original castmembers' voices, including James Caan, Robert Duvall and the late Marlon Brando in "The Godfather," Clint Eastwood in "Dirty Harry" and Sean Connery in "From Russia with Love"
