Other International Game News: The Entertainment & Leisure Softw...

discs led to a video rental store in the Warmley area of Bristol. Local Trading Standards issued a formal letter of warning to cease selling pirated games and films without BBFC ratings, to no effect. ELSPA said one of its investigators visited the shop at the end of Oct. and overheard a conversation between the proprietor and a customer revealing that the pirated stock was kept elsewhere. Because the proprietor believed Trading Standards didn’t operate after 5 p.m., he moved the discs to the store only after that time of day, ELSPA said. In an evening raid the investigator entered the shop, claimed to have ordered a film and a game and was shown to the storeroom containing a large bag full of made-to-order product. He paid Pounds 9 ($17.88) for the 2 discs and left. ELSPA said police then moved in and seized a large amount of pirated movies and games including Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Authorities also uncovered 3 notebooks full of orders, bagfuls of pornography stuffed behind shelves and a box containing hundreds of pounds sterling… After an emergency meeting with the U.K. govt. last week in London to discuss videogame ratings and controversy over violent titles, ELSPA Dir. Gen. Roger Bennett said the discussions were “very positive.” He said “we all realize that it is important that we work together to look at ways in which the industry can do more to help parents make informed decisions.” Bennett said “a number of initiatives were discussed at the meeting and they will be formulated to create specific proposals to promote greater understanding, recognition and awareness of the games rating system, ensuring that young people are not exposed to inappropriate content.” But he didn’t specify what any of the initiatives discussed were. Culture Secy. Tessa Jowell said it was “a very positive meeting,” adding that the game industry “agreed with government that we needed to make sure that the 18 classification system is understood and enforced.” Games rated 18+ in the U.K. can’t legally be sold to minors under 18. The meeting was held after Howell and Trade Secy. Patricia Hewitt teamed to fight for clearer labeling on games with mature content. Controversy over violent games flared up again in the U.K. after the murder of a teenager by a friend who, it was claimed, was a fan of the gory Take-Two Interactive game Manhunt… China banned the computer game Soccer Manager 2005, claiming the title contained content that harmed the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and therefore violated Chinese law, published reports said. The reports said Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau were classified as independent countries in the game, while Tibet was referred to as Chinese Tibet, which the Chinese govt. claimed elevated the country to the same level as China. The Chinese govt. threatened to fine websites that supplied the game, as well as Internet cafes that allowed customers to download it, the reports said… SCi Entertainment said last week that, as of Thurs., Cantor Fitzgerald Europe owned 2.19 million shares (7.64%) of stock in the company. Earlier in the week, the game maker reported its best preliminary fiscal year results to date. SCi said its sales increased 8.8% to Pounds 31 million from a year ago thanks in large part to strong sales of Conflict: Vietnam, which it said reached #1 in the U.K. and “many other” European countries. The company said it shipped more than 1.2 million units of the game to date, boosting sales in its Conflict series to about 6 million units. SCi also recently agreed to license its games for the Gizmondo handheld entertainment device and for other mobile platforms. CEO Jane Cavanagh said the company “believes that the outlook for the year to [Sept. 30, 2005] and beyond is very strong.”