Hacking the PSP Blog

Study: Action games improve eyesight

The benefits-versus-harms-of-gaming debate continued this week with a plus for those in support of the positive effects of spending time with a controller. Researchers at The University of Rochester published a paper in Psychological Science this week regarding a study on the effects of gaming and eyesight.

The study found a noticeable difference between the visual acuity of subjects after a session of action-oriented gaming, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Those who played the first-person shooter Unreal Tournament (the paper did not say which version of Unreal Tournament was played) experienced greater improvements to visual acuity and peripheral vision than subjects who had played Tetris.

Professor Daphne Bavelier, who ran the study, said the research gives hope to those who feared the part of the brain that manages visual acuity could not improve after adulthood. She also said that gaming, because of participation by subjects, likely has a greater affect on eyesight than passive media, such as movies or television shows.

Tim Surette
February 6, 2007

Source: GameSpot

Off Topic: France Approves Game Tax Credit

In a move that could have oppressed German game developers looking jealously towards the southwest, the French Parliament has approved a plan to allow game developers creating games with a "with a cultural dimension" a tax credit equaling 20% of development costs up to 3 million euros a year. That's a pretty sizeable chunk of change aimed at keeping developers in the country, providing a sharp contrast to Germany, where some game developers are looked on and treated like borderline criminals.

So what determines if a game has a cultural dimension? Anything from the story the music, the look and feel, etc., so while a game about killing space aliens on a made up planet might not fall under the criteria, killing space aliens in the Louvre to the music of Jean-Marie Leclair just might.

Devs shouldn't start counting their euros yet however, as the European Commission is currently looking the plan over to see if it constitutes a EU policy violating subsidy.

Michael Fahey
February 7, 2007

Source: Kotaku

Retailers slam HMV over PS3 deal

Top games retailers have hit out at HMV for a deal that guaranteed customers a PS3 at launch if they bought a bundle including the console and a PSP.

An email from the firm last Friday guaranteed 5,000 consumers that they could be one of the ‘lucky few’ to pick up a PS3 on March 23rd – so long as they committed to buying a PS3, a 4GB PSP and two PSP games for £674.99.

HMV has now widened its PS3 offer to include taking ‘normal' pre-order deposits in store and on the web. It has continued the online PSP online, but customers of the deal will no longer be prioritised at launch.

“We won’t be following HMV’s lead on the PSP pre-order bundle, because we won’t hold our customers to ransom,” head of games at Choices UK Martin Baxter told MCV.

Head of promotions and PR at Virgin Megastores Stephen Lynn added: “HMV’s deal is up to them at the end of the day, but it’s not the sort of thing we’d offer our customers because we’re trying to keep things simple on PS3. We wouldn’t want to risk confusing our customers over any product – let alone one of this expense.”

 A spokesperson for HMV said the firm refuses to comment on the opinions of other retailers.

Tim Ingham
February 7, 2007

Source: MCVUK

GameStop: Sell an M-rated game to a minor, enjoy unemployment

If you plan on buying the M-rated classic, Bad Boys: Miami Take Down from your local GameStop, you might want to make sure you bring your ID and a DNA sample to prove it's actually you. Our sources close to the retailer tell us that the company is laying down the law on M-rated title sales to minors, Apprentice style.

In a conference call held late last week, managers were informed of the new, stricter M-rated software sales policy. Selling a game to a minor and getting caught will result in immediate termination. But it gets better -- if an hourly employee sells an M-rated game to a minor, not only will he or she lose their job, but the salaried store manager will be terminated as well, even if they were not present in the store at the time of the sale. Yikes.

The company has always had a policy of not selling M-rated titles to those under the age of 17. But this bold and threatening policy is a new step, no doubt influenced by the recent waves of legislation and related media coverage.

Read the full text here...

Nick Chester
February 7, 2007

Source: Destructoid