Fresh from the let’s-just-ban-anything-we feel-like files… apparently Venezuela’s parliament has approved a law that bans the import, production or sale of violent video games within the country.

According to GamePolitics.com, the law will go into effect some time in the next three months, and calls for penalties of up to three to five years of incarceration for each offense. Ria Novosti claims that even the national media will also be banned from running ads for “toys of a military nature”, because of the pressure from groups in the capitol that believe such toys and games encourage violence in youth.

While this isn’t a blanket ban on games (though it’s not entirely clear who’s going to be determining what games are “legal” and which aren’t), it certainly sets off some alarm bells. The Venezuelan government’s claim is that this is an effort to reduce the widespread violence that occurs in the country… essentially that games (and other “violent” toys that are lumped in with the law) are one of the root causes of violence among teenagers - a theory that has yet to be proven conclusively one way or the other here in the U.S. (or anywhere else, for that matter), in spite of feverish arguments made on both sides of the fence.

It just goes to remind us… the U.S. isn’t alone in it’s kneejerk reactions when it comes to violence. Unfortunately, banning a form of entertainment as a root cause of that violence is a little too much like putting a Band-aid on a severed limb. The reality is that all laws like this do is allow the people in the government to say “Hey, look! We’re fixing the problem! Keep voting for me!” while at the same time changing virtually nothing.

Confirmed in the latest issue of Famitsu, Capcom is working on a follow-up to Clover Studios’ Okami for release in Japan some time in 2010. The game is in the works for the Nintendo DS and will be called “Okamiden: Chiisaki Taiyou” (which, according to people with better Japanese skills than me, means something along the lines of “Okami Legend: The Small Sun”).

Okamiden will pick up a several months after the end of the first story. Plays will take on the role of Chibiterasu (apparently a younger version of Okami’s Amaterasu). Joining Chibiterasu will be Issun and Sakuya from the first game, along with Susano’s son, Kuninushi.

The gameplay will be similar to that of the original game, requiring players to draw spells on the screen (something that will hopefully translate a lot better to the DS than it did to the Wii).

There hasn’t been any word yet of a U.S. release, but being a fan of Okami, I’m personally looking forward to hearing more about Okamiden.

With the next entry in the Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines for PSP, due out in November, Ubisoft has announced that the game is getting the Entertainment Pack treatment. The limited edition bundle will include the game, an “Altair-white” PSP-3000 handheld system, a 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, and a yet-to-be-announced UMD movie.

Set in Cyprus, the game picks up following immediately after the events of the original 360/PS3 game and explores the link between the original and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed 2. Bloodlines is said to take full advantage of the PSP’s technological abilities to give players an large environments, free-running gameplay, and access to Altair’s signature moves.

In addition, it will also feature some connectivity with the PS3 version of Assassin’s Creed 2… as players unlock certain upgrades in Assassin’s Creed 2, the same upgrades will be unlocked in Bloodlines, and vice versa.

Final Fantasy XIII is still months from release (in Japan… we’re still closer to a year from release here in the U.S.) and god only knows when FF Versus XIII will be out, but Square Enix has decided to tempt us with the next installment in the series.

Yesterday’s E3 attendees saw the first footage of Final Fantasy XIV. The game will be coming to PS3, though not even a tentative timeframe was given for the release. MMO fans rejoice… XIV will be another online title, a la Final Fantasy XI.

I may finally have to break my rule about not getting involved in MMOs. I missed out on XI due to not having broadband (or… you know… money, really, for that matter) back when it first came out, and never got around to trying it after becoming a member of the gainfully employed elite. And until about a month ago, my PC would have choked and died had I attempted to put WoW on it. With my two top choices out of the picture, it didn’t seem worth the effort to risk having my life taken over by some other MMO. But I’m a sucker for just about anything Square Enix is willing to throw at me, so it looks like I’m sold.

Not too long ago, Amazon.com decided it was time to compete with GameStop, and instituted a game trade-in program. You send them your used games, they give you credit for their site. Toys ‘R Us recently started up a similar program. Seems that Wal-Mart is following suit.

Reports of buy-back kiosks showing up in Wal-Mart stores have been popping up on the web this week. At the kiosks you create an account, scan the barcode on the game case, and then are prompted to insert the game disc followed by the case. In return, you get a voucher for store credit. The machines are also capable of applying the amount to a credit card.

The kiosks are part of a pilot program for the Ohio-based company E-Play. 77 of the machines now occupy leased space in various Wal-Mart locations.

The kiosks accept PS2, PS3, Wii, and 360 game discs, but apparently there are still a few bugs in the system and the database of accepted games isn’t complete, so not all titles are eligible for trade-in. In addition to trade-ins, the kiosks also rent DVDs and game discs for $1 per day, similar to the Redbox machines already seen in many stores.

So as it turns out, Lionhead did have an announcement to make today. Yay! In addition to the release of a new Video Diary entry, they have also finally given us a release date on the “See the Future” downloadable content for Fable 2.

“See the Future” will be available May 12th on Xbox LIVE for 560 MS Points. In addition, there will be a Multiplayer Unlocked Weekend from May 8 at 12:01 p.m. EST until May 11 at 11:59 a.m. EST, in which gamers who can’t quite justify paying for a Live Gold account can hop on their Silver accounts and play for free.

See the Future will feature new quests, new achievements, and apparently new personas for your four-legged companion. And it’s all coming in less than two weeks. I can’t wait!

Via: Lionhead.com

Apparently, there’s going to be some Fable 2 related news tomorrow. But that’s all they can tell us today over at the Fable 2 Development Blog. Of course, the last time they announced that they were announcing something, it turned out that they that they jumped the gun and couldn’t announce it for another week.

Here’s hoping that tomorrow’s news (if we get to hear it, this time) is related to the See the Future add-on that was revealed earlier this month… like something more specific than “coming in May”.

Read the official announcement of the impending announcement here.

So maybe you’ve already heard… Amazon.com is trying to nudge their way into the used game market. They’ve started a trade-in service of their own to compete with other game re-sellers, like EB Games/Gamestop.

And it looks like they’re off to a good start. Amazon is offering trade-in prices that are higher than Gamestop’s average. They’ll also give you an additional 10% off on future game and game accessories purchases, and they even pay for the postage. So what’s the catch? Well, for one, you don’t get your cash instantly… you have to wait until they receive and accept your games. For another… you don’t actually get cash. You get an Amazon gift card applied to your account.

Now for me, that doesn’t particularly matter. On the rare occasion I trade in a game, it’s always put towards buying a different one… and I shop on Amazon constantly. Believe me, I have no trouble at all spending an Amazon gift card.

On the other hand, I know there are a lot of gamers out there who’d sooner have something they can spend anywhere they want as soon as they dump their old games. And it seems that Gamestop’s CEO is thinking much the same thing (although Gamestop’s investors may have a different opinion… Gamestop’s stock dropped 13% yesterday after Amazon’s announcement. Toys ‘R Us, too, is testing the trade-in waters.).

On sale in Japan later this month, is Advent Children Complete, the BluRay-format director’s cut of 2005’s CG film, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

Not only that, but it’s coming in three editions (say what you will about Square Enix… they certainly know how to squeeze every last cent out of their fans): Regular Edition, First Edition (which comes with the Final Fantasy XIII demo and trailers), and First Edition PS3 Bundle (which comes with the demo and a PS3 to play it on).

So what else are they throwing in to get people to buy this? Well in addition to the 30 minutes of additional footage, how about a new anime? Those of you who purchased the limited collector’s edition (or imported a copy from Japan) probably remember the Last Order animated short that was part of the bonuses.

Advent Children Complete will include another 30-minute anime called Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile - Episode: Denzel. Presumably the short will be based on Denzel’s story from the novella that came with the limited collector’s edition. The short story recounts Denzel’s life just before the Meteor incident, the deaths of his parents, and his life leading up to the start of Advent Children, two years later.

How sad is it that I already own four editions of the movie and am still planning to buy this? Sometimes I think I take my FF7 fandom a little too far. I’ve probably got more money invested in FF7 merchandise than I do actual Final Fantasy games at this point.

Remember that game bill that Blagojevich signed into law back in 2005? The one that was ruled unconstitutional and resulted in taxpayers having to foot the bill when the state was ordered to pay $500,000 in attorney fees to the ESA in addition to the $500,000 in attorney fees for the state of Illinois itself?

Yeah… it’s back, courtesy of Illinois Rep. Robert W. Pritchard (R), one of the vocal individuals who was blaming the NIU shootings on video games.

He’s not trying to push through a bill with similar objectives, or fix the problems with the old one. He’s trying to amend legislation that was declared unconstitutional three years ago. Specifically, the amendments target “sexually explicit” video games (the proposed amendments can be view here).

I’m not exactly a legal expert, but apparently, laws held to be unconstitutional are still on the books, even though they are unenforceable. So, beyond the obvious vie for attention to his “cause”, what’s the point of this? And how much is it going to cost us this time?