Joystiq

Pac-Man glows 'green' in Switzerland's Festival of Trees and Lights

JC Fletcher — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:00:00 EST

With a few simple additions, artists Benedetto Bufalino and Benedict Deseille turned Geneva, Switzerland's Festival Arbres et Lumières ("Festival of Trees and Lights") into a festival of trees, lights and ... ghosts. The artists added giant Pac-Man characters to an existing string of public ~~pellets~~ lights, creating an installation that requires no extra energy consumption.

Pac-Man, of course, looks to be in dire need of some power -- in power pellet form -- in this chase scene, also from the festival, photographed by DeviantArtist Attila-le-Ain.

Pac-Man glows 'green' in Switzerland's Festival of Trees and Lights originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Proposed Swiss game ban detailed, won't target all violent games

Griffin McElroy — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST

Until very recently, there had been a massive void in our knowledge about the violent game-banning bill which was recently ratified by Switzerland's National Council. With language stating it would outlaw the sale of games featuring "cruel acts of violence against humans and human-like creatures for in-game success," we feared it would constitute a ban on, like, everything. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case -- Swiss politician Evi Allemann recently explained in an interview with Swiss news site 20 Minutes (via GamePolitics) that the bill would only affect around 12 "individual games" with extremely graphic content, such as Manhunt and Mortal Kombat.

Allemann commented that PEGI is "not enough," stating that Switzerland or even Europe needs its own body for video game ratings. Apparently, not everyone agrees -- the 20 Minutes article includes a link to a petition against the bill, as well as its adjoining measure which would outlaw the sale of PEGI 16 or 18 games to minors. We'd like to remind these petitioners that Swiss 16-year-olds can legally drink beer, so hey, let's not get greedy.

Proposed Swiss game ban detailed, won't target all violent games originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Proposal in Swiss government could ban violent games

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:00:00 EST

According to a report out of consonant-heavy Swiss gaming site GamesMarkt, Switzerland's parliament recently passed a law that could lead to an across the board ban on "violent" games being sold in the country. Apparently a proposal was inked last month that aimed to remove games which require "cruel acts of violence against humans and human-like creatures for in-game success" -- a proposal that has apparently been passed by the Swiss National Council.

Since the initial proposal has passed, it's said to now be up to the Swiss parliament exactly how the law is enacted. If you're a Swiss gamer interested in challenging the new law, we encourage you to contact local politicians, as GamesIndustry.biz points out that "citizens are able to challenge any new law passed by parliament if they can show sufficient opposition to it." Given the petitions we've seen some of you get into, we're hoping this one will be a no brainer.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Proposal in Swiss government could ban violent games originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Xbox Live Video Marketplace coming to 10 more countries 'this fall'

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

As far as we know, the kind of laziness which prevents you from visiting the nearest Blockbuster Video is a worldwide phenomenon. According to a press release (.doc link) dropped just in time for CES, Microsoft is catering to this global lethargy by opening up the Xbox Live Video Marketplace to ten more countries this fall: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Australia and New Zealand.

Basically, if the Xbox Live Video Marketplace was playing Risk, it'd have a kickass lock on the Eastern Hemisphere.

Xbox Live Video Marketplace coming to 10 more countries 'this fall' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Study finds unique gaming disease 'PlayStation palmar hidradenitis'

David Hinkle — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:00:00 EST

Based on a report from BBC, it would appear researchers have discovered a disease that has hitherto gone undiagnosed by modern medicine: PlayStation palmar hidradenitis. As one might imagine, it has something to do with "PlayStation" and the "palms of your hands." See, using that controller is not only killing your (virtual) enemies, it's also killing you.

According to the report, researchers emphasized the case of one 12-year-old girl who arrived at Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland with sores on her palms. She had recently struck up a fascination with a PlayStation game (sorry, the exact title isn't mentioned) and despite developing these sores, continued to play. That's when her folks brought her to the hospital. After 10 days of abstaining from the deadly activity, however, she was sore free! We're sorry, but we wouldn't call that "PlayStation palmar hidradenitis." We'd probably call it: Stop squeezing the controller like you want to break it!

Our favorite line in the entire piece has to be this: "For the disorder to only affect the hands is very unusual." So, wait, you're telling us it's unusual for this so-called disease, the one that comes from using a game controller, to only affect the hands? What other body parts are interacting with your controller?

[Thanks, RazorD!]

Study finds unique gaming disease 'PlayStation palmar hidradenitis' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments