If you’re an owner of emulators, and continuously are trying to find a decent ROM site then you’ll love today’s story. If you’re a copyright lawyer, then you might find the research being conducted by Portsmouth University a nightmare. Or a godsend if you really like suing people.

The researchers at Portsmouth University are developing emulation software, that could potentially read any software file dating back to the 1970’s. Emulation software isn’t anything new. If you scour across the internet, you can find software for nearly any kind of video game hardware. Everything from MAME (arcade), to the Playstation has emulation software available. But developing an emulator that can play any software file in existence? As Shortround from Temple of Doom would say, they’re not insane….they’re crazy.

The researchers have devised a lofty goal, and appear to be doing it for the right reasons. One of the historians working on the project, said this about the reasons behind the research, “(It’s a) rescue plan to recover and safeguard the rapidly vanishing technology and cultural information about the generation born and brought up in the digital age.”

That is quite a foresight indeed. If you think about it, how many devices are readily available on the market that can even read a 3.5″ floppy disk? Not that there’s software out there that still uses it, but what about information we’ve stored on those media devices that could prove useful in the future? It’s very important we maintain these documents for historical purposes, and research Portsmouth is conducting is vital indeed.

If all else fails, emulator users will no longer have to download different EMUs for different consoles.

[via: TechRadar]

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Over the weekend I found myself bored, as I refuse to go outside during winter. This, generally leads to me playing a lot of video games, and watching quite a bit of sports. I’ve still got a couple of weeks before many retail games come out that I’m thinking about buying, so I started to search around for a cheap alternative until said release.

I ran into a game called Perfect World International. It’s a MMORPG that originally released in China but due to its popularity has become a cult hit around the world. After playing it until level 6, I really saw nothing special with the game. To be fair though, you can’t accurately judge an MMO until you get deeper into a game. However, during my time playing I really didn’t see anything that leapt out to me as being amazing.

So, why therefore are so many people playing it? All because of that ever glorious word, ‘free’. Yes, I’ll give Perfect World credit, in that it’s a game worth playing if you don’t have to pay for it. In fact, I’d say it’s probably the highest quality free game I’ve ever played.

Of course, no MMO can be played without sustaining some kind of profit. Perfect World makes its cash from a system called ‘micro-transactions’. This is a system where players can pay cash for in-game money, or items. Nearly every ‘free’ MMO has this system with varying levels of success. Perfect World seems to be doing just fine, as they keep increasing the number of countries where the game is available.

While the micro-transaction system can work in a financial sense, I think it greatly throws off the balance of the in-game world. Of course, you’ll have the dedicated gamers who don’t care how much they have to spend aslong as they can get some killer loot. Then you’ll have people who just want to play, and earn what they get through actually playing the game.

If you have someone who is dedicated to the game, and plays it a lot but doesn’t necessarily have the money to invest frequently, then he is penalized. But if someone plays for quite a bit but has some money to throw around then being able to advance and obtain some great items will have an easier go of things.

It appears that BioWare, developer of Star Wars: The Old Republic might be looking into the micro-transaction system. I really hope not, as it really just messes things up in the game world. Plus, giving players an extra advantage because of something they do outside of the game kind of ruins the immersiveness.

What are your thoughts on micro-transactions? Do you prefer the system, or do you not mind paying a monthly fee to play a MMO?

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Brain Age, is a game that is one of the most successful Nintendo DS launches ever. Due to its promise of stimulating brain activity and helping with memory, it has been adopted by many DS owners.

Is Dr. Ryuta Kawashima telling the truth though, when he claims that training your brain with Brain Age really does help?

According to Alain Lieury, the results of Brain Age are inconclusive at best. In his research, he found that Brain Age didn’t necessarily help his subjects with memory or math. In his research, he had a group of children, each with various ways to learn and test the mind. Some were given Brain Age, others conducted pencil-and-paper tests, while others just went to class normally.

In the mathematics test, nearly all of the children showed improvement with the math section. Brain Age didn’t necessarily improve their skills more effectively. In the memory tests, the results showed even less of an improvement for the children playing Brain Age.

Of course for every study, there’s another one out to refute it. While I agree that Brain Age might not improve your brain functions more so than other methods, that isn’t the point. The point is that while Brain Age might be equal in effectiveness for all of the tests, it’s by far the most fun as well.

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I’m not sure what makes politicians hate video games so much. Perhaps, they’ve never played them and they don’t have a grasp on what they’re about. Maybe, the video game industry doesn’t have much of a lobby to protect themselves so politicians can easily attack them. They could honestly be looking out for the well being of our children though, even if it’s ridiculous and unwarranted.

Rep. Joe Baca (D) is the politician behind the latest attack against the world of video games. He’s had a history of passing video game related bill, but this latest might be the most asinine.

“The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009″ pretty much explains itself, and what would happen if the bill got passed. Just like the warning label you see on a pack of cigarettes, a message would be displayed to prospective buyers of video games.

Here’s what the warning message would stats: “WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.”

To make such a bold statement, one would have some sort of proof, right? In a way there is proof, but the problem is that it isn’t completely accurate. There have been numerous studies between the relationship between video games and violence. Many of those studies have been conflicted with one another, which hasn’t led to any substantial evidence.

I don’t see this bill being passed, mainly due to conflicting evidence. It’s just another example of Washington politicians taking advantage of lobby-less gaming industry. Until they can come up with a way to better defend themselves like the music, and movie industry did long ago these kind of things could keep happening.

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