It's nice to see game developers with a little flexibility for their intended target market. Aside from catering to a wider audience of gamers, it's just good business sense. This was probably what was going through Ready at Dawn's mind when they followed up their very wholesome platformer, Daxter, with the upcoming mythological hack-and-slash game, God of War: Chains of Olympus.

With the God of War series already infamous for its bloody appeal to gamers everywhere, you have to wonder, especially with the growing attention people have been giving to violence in media, if there's any hope for violent games left in the video game market. Ru Weerasuriya, founder and vice president of Ready at Dawn, wrote an article on the subject, giving his opinion on the effect of violence in media.

He focuses on the inevitably bloody theme of God of War: Chains of Olympus and how it compares to the many violent games being criticized in the market (and of course the name of Mr. Jack Thompson just had to come up in his article). He says that because the game is based on Greek mythology, it is inevitable that the theme of violence and sordid tales will be inserted into God of War. In introspect, the violence the game depicts is tame compared to the actual mythology and even the history of Greece.

Of course, you can't help but insert the advocacy of freedom of expression when defending a medium which you find yourself prolific in and a majority of Weerasuriya's arguments focus mainly on such. Saying that the advent of the interactive entertainment industry cannot be blamed just because some feel threatened of the way such medium is presented that offends them and threatens their comfortable way of living.

The full article along with Mr. Ru Weerasuriya's stirring comments on violence on video games after the jump!

Wondering if you favorite country will be included in Konami Digital Entertainment's latest Pro Evolution Soccer release? Erik Hansson over at the Level7 site has just picked up what appears to be a complete listing of the national teams making it to PES 2008 (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, DS, PC).

That's all the details we've got on this news, which ties in nicely with the celebrities expected to make an appearance in the game. Stay tuned in case we receive more update - or if some lucky gamer confirms this lineup based on PES 2008's upcoming demo release. For now, here's the list (translated by the Winning Eleven blog):

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• England
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Israel

The complete list is available in the Full Article

If you've ever wanted to play international hoops in a video game but couldn't find one that will offer such a thing, then worry no more. NBA Live 08 (also coming to the Xbox 360, Wii and PC) just sealed a licensing deal with world basketball governing body FIBA and international teams will be included in the mix.

The Play Now mode allows you to pit the world's best teams against any ballclub in the NBA, while the FIBA mode will have you battling it out in an 8-team tournament to determine which national squad has the right to be called world champions. This means you can take it to the rack using Manu Ginobili while Spurs teammate Tim Duncan tries to stop you. Can T-Mac shoot fadeaways over Yao Ming? We'll find out soon.

2006 World Championship winners Spain led by Memphis Grizzlies star Pau Gasal will be there as well as runners up Greece and USA, as well as France, Germany, Italy, Argentina and China.

The announcement adds to the already stellar list of new features such as the Go-To basketball gameplay, deep customization and management. Combine that with the trademark quality graphics and sound and the NBA Live dynasty just might go on well into the new age of digital sports.

  

Oooh, another censor bar! Future Publishing, the guys handling the Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM), have just announced that they would be removing from their publication the offensive images of a dead goat as seen in footage of a God of War II event in Greece last March. This is in light of the recent apology made by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE).

A spokesperson from Future had this to say about the deal struck between Sony and their company and what they are now planning to do:

It was a joint decision to remove the offending pages across the print run. But the copies for subscribers have already been sent out so we can't recall them. The decision was made to remove the pages in 80,000 copies of the magazine being prepared for the newstands.

It's yet to be confirmed if pictures of other mature content (e.g. body-painted promo girls) will also be retracted. We find it interesting though that here in QJ, most of the commenters seem to be focused on the girl and her ample chest rather than the goat itself... We also noticed that as we post more on the said issue, more and more black censor bars appear on the pic. At the rate things are going... Nah, we kid. *wink*

In light of recent criticism being directed at their God of War II promo party in Athens, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has further stated that they did not condone animal cruelty.

"Sony Computer Entertainment Europe does not in any way, shape or form condone cruelty or mistreatment of animals," the SCEE spokesman stated. "Sony Computer Entertainment Europe takes the sensitivities of the general public and issues of animal welfare very seriously and is sorry for any offence or distress the event or perception of this event may have caused."

At the said promo party, UK's Daily Mail tabloid ran an article stating that the event's centerpiece was a "freshly decapitated" goat, as indicated in Official PlayStation Magazine. Sony has since apologized for the incident, and has promised to pull out OPM's latest issues from news stands. There is still no word regarding the company's stand on the boobies also sighted at the promo party. Just keep posted in case concerned animal rights groups (i.e. PETA) decide to come back with a reply.

The PS3 might just cost an arm and a leg in Greece, but don't let that stop the campiness of launch day, alright?

Well, it seems the Greeks really did us a favor today. They've got to have one of the campiest videos out there for any opening, and it's actually kind of charming.

Here's some stuff to note in these two videos:

1. Use of PS3 as spaceship.
2. Guy in tracksuit rolling around.
3. Review of Genji from an audience member.
4. A Greek guy busting out of the screen to taunt said audience member into a sword fight.
5. Obligatory sword fight.

On the bright side folks, there's definitely no blood, and if you have a couple of minutes to spare, then this might be the campy laugh you need to start a day out right. Enjoy!

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.