Tag Archives: fcc

Electronic Arts head John Riccitiello believes video games need a single rating system that spans across all platforms and countries. He spoke in front of a group of politicians in Washington last night, claiming, “We must adopt a self-regulated, global rating system across every format games are played on.”

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According to this FCC filing, Sony is working on a 4000 Series PlayStation 3.

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Sony’s filed two new PS3 SKUs to the FCC.

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The Federal Communications Commission has started researching a possible universal rating system to include games, mobile content and television in response to the US Congress investigating current laws are doing enough to protect children from harmful content.

Enter the ESA which says that the FCC has no jurisdiction in games.

According to Rich Taylor, senior VP for communications and industry affairs at ESA, current ESRB ratings are “considered by parents, family advocates, the Federal Trade Commission, and elected officials as the gold standard in providing caregivers with the information they need to make the right choices for their families.”

Taylor feels a universal rating would “confuse consumers, violate the Constitution’s first amendment, and are a solution in search of a problem.”

The FCC maintains control over television an radio in the US – basically airwaves. How games would fall under this category is unknown, unless the FCC lobbies to get more power in its court.

More through Joystiq, via Bloomberg.

The Federal Communications Commission has dissected the turntable peripheral for Activision’s DJ Hero.

Dunno what the FCC thought it would find inside, but there ya go.

There are loads of PDF files on the government wesbite describing the thing, from emission tests to bandwith – the inspection’s all there.

If you like to know how things work and what makes ‘em tick, you can thank Joystiq.

It’s not even been 24 hours since SCEE’s conference ended where the PS3 Slim was announced, but already rumours are already circulating that Sony have a second 250Gb version of the console planned.

The console went through the FCC under a psydeum known as “Sand Dollar Enterprise Inc.” to make sure the SCEA report was kept a secret.

Very clever if we do say so ourselves.

When it was announced last night, only a 120Gb SKU was announced, retailing for £249/$299/€299.

Thanks Engadget and Roybott.

The ESA has appointed Jennifer Manner as its new senior vice president for government affairs.

This position most likely stems from a report filed by the ESA regarding piracy concerns in Europe.

“The entertainment software industry is faced with a variety of challenges and opportunities at the national level from protecting intellectual property and preserving First Amendment rights to fostering economic development and technological advancement,” said ESA bossman Michael Gallagher.

“Jennifer’s wealth of policy experience, particularly in the broadband space, will serve the ESA and our members well as we work to create a prosperous environment for the entire computer and video game industry.”

Jennifer was previously senior counsel for the FCC and legal counsel for various tech based organizations and her responsibilities at the ESA will include heading the government relations team.

Apparently she is also a surfer girl.

The rumored PSP-3000 model is a lie. According to Gizmodo, the PSP-3001 is where it’s at.

Through an FCC listing, the site’s got its hands on the PSP-3001’s testing info. The documents aren’t the most in-depth, but do show that the PSP-3001 will not include any substantial cosmetic changes. And that it exists, obviously.

Smart money says that all changes will be internal. Thus, Gizmodo speculates, they’ll be aimed at lowering costs and giving the boot to hackers.

But unless “internal changes” actually means “hard drive and a steady stream of good games,” we doubt the hackers will be out for long.

By Nathan Grayson