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It is illegal to mod game save data and game consoles in Japan. Both are punishable by up to five years in prison and fines up to 5 million yen ($46,000). This was first published by Japanese game sites like Hachima Kikou after peripheral maker Cyber Gadget stopped selling its Save Editor data tool, allowing players to use cheats and patch codes. Cyber Gadget has since stopped selling the Save Editor on its Japanese site. The Association of Copyright for Computer Software also mentions that unofficial software codes and keys are also illegal. Specifically, mentioned is offering these on online...

AMD and Sony worked together to create a custom "Jaguar" APU.AMD's Vice President of Global Communications and Industry Marketing John Taylor recently "elaborated" on the APU that is packed in Sony's semi-announced PlayStation 4 console. He said the new gaming console is the first announced design win based on a semi-custom AMD APU which was jointly developed in coordination with Sony."At the most basic level, an APU is a single chip that combines general-purpose x86 central processing unit (CPU) cores with a graphics processing unit (GPU) and a variety of system elements, including memory controllers, specialized video decoders, display outputs,...

December 12, 2008, 0:30 p.m. Game ChangerTotally video. By Robert VerBruggen Video games are undeniably popular: Over Thanksgiving week alone, Nintendo sold more than 800,000 Wii consoles. This trend could have serious ramifications for society; experts have speculated about consequences ranging from an uptick in childhood obesity to better-developed visuospatial skills. But video games’ effects on our way of life could exceed even these expectations. In Changing the Game, David Edery and Ethan Mollick focus on the world of business, explaining how companies are increasingly turning to games to solve various problems. The book both advises companies on how...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nintendo Co. Ltd on Thursday said it has named its new video game console "Wii, which it said is pronounced "we" to emphasise that the console is for everyone. The console up until now has been known by its code-name "Revolution." "While the code-name Revolution expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer," spokeswoman Perrin Kaplan told Reuters. Nintendo, best known for its Game Boy portable video players, aims to gain share in the $25 billion (18.9 billion pounds) global video game market now dominated by Sony Corp. Microsoft Corp. launched its next-generation Xbox 360 console late...

Sony's next gen console gets delayed six months The Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun has reported that Sony will delay the launch of PlayStation 3 until November of 2006. The North American launch date is still up in the air. According to the report, issues surrounding copy protection for Blu-ray discs is the reason for the delay. If the reports are true (given the source, they probably are), Sony could miss the key holiday rush in the United States. Official word from Sony is expected tomorrow. Rumors have been circulating about Asustek Computer securing orders for the Sony PlayStation 3...