New Era Interactive Media, the distributor of the Grand Theft Auto games in Thailand, has opted to pull GTA from store shelves after a teenager confessed to robbing and killing a taxi driver while trying to recreate a scene from the game series. Learn more after the jump.

Electronic Arts has announced that it will not buy Take-Two just yet. The company has made an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission that it will wait until the FTC finishes its probe into the takeover proposal. More in the full article.

A lot of talk has been going around regarding the currently pending Activision-Vivendi deal and EA's US$ 2 billion offer for Take-Two Interactive. While it may seem that mergers and acquisitions are the current trend, THQ's Chief Executive Brian Farrell feels that it isn't a necessity for company growth. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

Realism has, for the most part, been touted as one way to get across the idea that a game is good. This approach works well in video games, but in the advertising world, if a game looks too real, and is deemed to be too violent, then you can expect the ad to get the axe.

That's exactly what happened earlier today over in the UK, as the Advertising Standards Authority banned an advertisement for John Woo Presents Stranglehold (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) because it was too violent and realistic for broadcast on television. More on this in the full article.

Thanks to casual gaming, Ubisoft predicts that the gaming market will expand by 50% within the next 4 years. Casual games have greatly expanded the market by attracting a new audience, letting non-gamers cross over to the gaming side with their pick up and play stratagem.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot explains to Reuters at the Leipzig Games Convention the importance of Casual Gaming to the industry. Not only were the profits from their casual games line helped finance the hardcore games for the next gen consoles, but it's also expected to account for 20% of their revenues for this year, raking in about EUR 825 million (US$ 1.1 billion.)

One other great advantage to casual games is the cost of its development. A casual game costs only EUR 1 to 4 million depending on how many platforms it will be available in. In contrast, a normal Nintendo Wii game will cost EUR 5 to 10 million while an Xbox 360 and a PlayStation 3 game will cost around EUR 10 to 20 million.

In light of this, it looks like Ubisoft has no intention of letting their casual game line die down and has even announced a new game for the Nintendo Wii. Based on the award-winning board game "Cranium," Cranium Kabookii is slated for a release this December.

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. has revealed that it has received a Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This according to Reuters.

The Wells notice indicates that charges may be filed against Take-Two by the SEC concerning the stock options debacle that hounded the company in the past. According to Reuters, Take-Two revealed in an SEC filing that the company was informed by SEC staff who planned to get authorization from the Commission to file charges as well as go after a civil monetary penalty.

This is the latest blow against Take-Two. Earlier this month, the company announced that it will be delaying the release of Grand Theft Auto IV (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360). The release date for Manhunt 2 (Wii, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2) has also been changed. Take-Two still has one final chance to try and convince the SEC not to file charges.

 

The reason why Electronic Arts will miss its estimated profits for this fiscal year? Well other than the wider quarterly loss, it's because an anticipated game won't be coming out, at least not until this current fiscal year ends by March 2008. The anticipated game that is delayed? Spore.

A Reuters report notes that EA has said that it was no longer counting on revenue from Spore for this fiscal year. What's worse is that EA adds that the game could be delayed until fiscal 2009.

A lot of hopeful folks are now screaming "NOOOO..." A lot of the more cynical ones are making jokes about the game being bundled with Duke Nukem Forever.

So sad, this is.

There's a new article up on Reuters that asks whether games can augment learning in schools, and while the answer might seem like an obvious "Yes!" to gamers, there seems to be a lot more at stake here than just saying yes and moving on.

For one thing, there's the stigma behind video games coming from multiple sides. On the one hand, the stigma against video games says that "kids can't learn from games." Convincing people that video games can have educational value is one thing educators have to consider when trying to push this to school boards.

On the other hand, if a game made for educational purposes doesn't carry the same sense of gravitas towards certain types of kids, then point of making video games for educational purposes grows moot, as kids get bored with the games given to them in school compared to the ones they have at home.

That's one of the problems with educational entertainment. It has to be educational while playing to an audience, and if it cannot do so, then it's either the game isn't a game, or the educational value is missing from it. That's the problem facing the idea of games as educators nowadays, and we certainly hope they can sustain enough momentum to make it work.

How about you? Would you apply yourself more in school if games were made available for educational purposes in school? Would a homebrew-creation class suit your needs? What types of games do you think would make you want to apply yourself in school? In short, if you're a student, what compromises would you be willing to see in games to make educational games a reality for schools?

The European Commission is set to introduce a list of common sanctions against retailers that sell violent video games to minors. Perhaps, what's good about this is that the Commission has decided to leave it to member states to identify which games will be considered "violent."

EUobserver reports that the EU justice and security commissioner, Franco Frattini, has told journalists last January 10 that he would file new and stricter rules governing the sale of video games to children below 16 before this year's summer break.

Reuters informs that Frattini had this to say: "I do want to harmonize rules punishing people illegally selling products, people not controlling and checking identity." Frattini does however stresses that the EU executive would abstain from suggesting which kind of material should be banned. He adds: "We cannot judge from Brussels which videogames should be prohibited. "

It can be recalled that last December, Frattini suggested that the Brussels' package could include new age restrictions on certain games as well as stronger, more effective, parental advisory warnings. The commissioner is confident with the proposal, especially since he has so far received support from eight EU countries – Germany, Britain, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Finland, France and Spain.

It has to be noted that this initiative comes after last November's incident in Germany, where Sebastian Bosse injured eleven students at his school before killing himself, and that retailers in most EU countries are not legally obliged to restrict the sale of adult classified products.

Why should we bother to know about these things? Because some people might get some bright ideas.

More legislation is on the way for sales restrictions of mature-rated and violent videogames in Europe. According to GamesIndustry.biz, European commissioner for justice and security Franco Frattini is calling for a unified crackdown on the sale of violent videogames to minors.

"I want to harmonise rules punishing people illegally selling products, people not controlling and checking identity," Frattini told Reuters. Part of the proposal includes tougher sanctions for retailers caught selling mature-rated titles to underage consumers.

While he is asking for unified rules across Europe, Frattini recognizes that they "cannot judge from Brussels which videogames should be prohibited." As such, the EU politician expects individual countries in Europe to decide for themselves which titles should face sale restrictions in their areas.

Frattini is hoping to introduce the new legislation within six months.