Naughty Ninjas

BROWSER: HAPPENINGS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Upcoming gaming conferences such as the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, which will be held in Los Angeles next spring, will see some action on the sexually-explicit game front.

The International Game Developers' Association has just formed a special interest group to look into issues related to sexually-oriented video games and plans to host separate sessions at these conferences.

The group's main responsibility will be to provide a forum for developers of adult content. It will address issues related to the development and marketing of adult-oriented material.

The group will urge developers to prepare lists of games that incorporate adult content and help them categorise the lists to indicate the extremity of content.

The special interest group will be chaired by Brenda Brathwaite, the lead designer for Cyberlore Studios' popular Playboy: The Mansion game.

Xbox 360 under $300

Microsoft has announced that the price of its Xbox 360 will start at $299.99 with standard $59 games. The Xbox 360 is expected to be launched in North America in early November. It will include a console, one controller, a white faceplate and an audio-visual cable.

For an additional $100, gamers will have an option to upgrade to the premium edition. The premium package will have, in addition to the standard equipment, a headset, remote, as well as membership to the Xbox Live entertainment and chat network.

It will also come with a 20GB hard drive for storing games, music, and other content downloaded from Xbox Live.

With the low-end version - called Xbox Core - retailing at under $300, market analysts predict this will now put pressure on Sony, which has hinted that the PS3 could retail for as much as $400 to $500 when it debuts next year.

Desktop Deceit

Technology has its downsides. International media reports suggest that the increasing popularity and affordability of personal computers and sophisticated printers is driving counterfeiting.

Advanced digital copying technology, desktop computers and colour printers are now said to produce about 97 per cent of today's fake $5, $10 and $20 notes in the US.

US government officials say that about 80 per cent of the counterfeit $50 notes are made with home computers. Earlier, counterfeiting was more complex as offset printers had to be used.

Today, with a couple of hundred dollars investment in tabletop colour printers, one can print high quality reproductions at the press of a button.

To stay one step ahead of the crooks, the US Federal Reserve Board has started using a Counterfeit Deterrence System "" a technology that shuts down printers and copiers attempting to reproduce the new $20 and $50 bills.