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FCC Wants to use Universal Service Fund for Broadband Expansion in America

james_fudge — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:33:01 +0000

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The Federal Communications Commission has been eyeballing a fund traditionally earmarked for rural phone service as a way to fund rural broadband. Most Americans that have a phone pay to fund this rural telephone program through the Universal Service Fund, or USF. When you pay your bill you pay a small stipend into this fund, which the government then uses (or is at least supposed to) towards building phone systems in wildly rural areas.

iOS Publishers Are Buying Their Way Up the Charts, Says Future Games

james_fudge — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:13:37 +0000

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Hungry Shark developer Future Games of London says that smaller iOS developers are being pushed out of the Apple App Store charts by larger publishers who are buying their way to the top of the list. Future Games MD Ian Harper claims that media companies are using a method called "Cost Per Install" to quickly drive downloads, improve rankings and increase visibility by hitting the top of the charts.

Huntington, NY: Video Game Spending Capital of the U.S.

james_fudge — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:44:03 +0000

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Financial analytics group Bundle has ranked the 100 largest U.S. cities by the amount of money spent on games through outlets like GameStop, EBGames, and Steam – using "anonymous spending data" provided by credit card companies and the U.S. government. So what was the #1 town when it came to spending cold-hard-cash on video games?

Benefit Evil Marathon for Child’s Play Begins Today

james_fudge — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:57:54 +0000

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Today at 2 pm EST, Benefit Evil will begin its annual marathon Resident Evil gameplay event to benefit Child's Play. The three-day marathon of Resident Evil playing – all to benefit the wonderful Child's Play charity – will run from today until October 9 at 10 pm.

You can be a part of the action by watching them play through some of the best and worst Resident Evil games, chatting with them via the live chat and following their antics on Twitter. Of course, the whole point is to get you to donate money.

Operation Supply Drop Sends Biggest Game Supply Drop Yet to Troops in Afghanistan

james_fudge — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:55:44 +0000

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Operation Supply Drop's latest supply drop for U.S. servicemen and women stationed in Afghanistan is a rousing success. What started out as a request for a console and some games ended with two boxes totaling 93 lbs. packed with all kinds of donated goodies being sent to Northern Afghanistan.

UK Labour MP Tom Watson Becomes Labour Party Deputy Chair

james_fudge — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:54:45 +0000

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Britain’s game development community received some good news this week that gave them hope that tax relief for the industry is still a possibility. One of the most vocal supporters of giving the games industry tax relief is now at the top of the political heap. Labour MP Tom Watson has been appointed as Labour Party deputy chair, part of a reshuffle of the opposition party. Watson, whose activism during the News Corp phone hacking scandal saw his popularity soar, is also an avid video game fan.

Bethesda Comments on Mojang Trademark Dispute

james_fudge — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:53:37 +0000

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This Kotaku post on the continued trademark dispute between lawyers for Minecraft developer Mojang and Elder Scrolls series developer Bethesda offers some interesting quotes from Bethesda VP Peter Hines, and attorney Angela Bozzuti from Davis & Gilbert LLP in New York City.

Team Bondi Owes Over AU $1.4 Million to Creditors

james_fudge — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:52:12 +0000

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Earlier this week we reported that LA Noire developer Team Bondi would be closing its doors as it sells off its assets to pay off creditors. Today we have learned who the Sydney, Australia-based studio owes most of its debt to.

GamesAid Voting Opens for UK Charities

james_fudge — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:51:00 +0000

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UK charity GamesAid is asking its members to vote for the charities that it will support for the remainder of the year, with voting open now and closing on October 21. Nine charities have been selected, with the final few receiving a minimum of around £20,000. The top recipients selected by members will be announced at the UKIE annual general meeting on Friday, November 4.

Pipeworks Studio Head Accused of Faking Military Credentials

james_fudge — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:49:56 +0000

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According to this IndustryGamers report, Pipeworks studio lead Robert Daly has been called out publically over his claims that he served in the U.S. Special Forces. Pipeworks is the developer behind the Deadliest Warrior video game, which is based on the popular Spike TV show of the same name.