It's a merry, merry Christmas from Atari who has something for everyone this holiday season, from RPGs to fighting games, tactic games to well, whichever category you want to fit in Tamagotchi Party On! Head on to the full article for their holiday lineup.

It's nice to see game developers with a little flexibility for their intended target market. Aside from catering to a wider audience of gamers, it's just good business sense. This was probably what was going through Ready at Dawn's mind when they followed up their very wholesome platformer, Daxter, with the upcoming mythological hack-and-slash game, God of War: Chains of Olympus.

With the God of War series already infamous for its bloody appeal to gamers everywhere, you have to wonder, especially with the growing attention people have been giving to violence in media, if there's any hope for violent games left in the video game market. Ru Weerasuriya, founder and vice president of Ready at Dawn, wrote an article on the subject, giving his opinion on the effect of violence in media.

He focuses on the inevitably bloody theme of God of War: Chains of Olympus and how it compares to the many violent games being criticized in the market (and of course the name of Mr. Jack Thompson just had to come up in his article). He says that because the game is based on Greek mythology, it is inevitable that the theme of violence and sordid tales will be inserted into God of War. In introspect, the violence the game depicts is tame compared to the actual mythology and even the history of Greece.

Of course, you can't help but insert the advocacy of freedom of expression when defending a medium which you find yourself prolific in and a majority of Weerasuriya's arguments focus mainly on such. Saying that the advent of the interactive entertainment industry cannot be blamed just because some feel threatened of the way such medium is presented that offends them and threatens their comfortable way of living.

The full article along with Mr. Ru Weerasuriya's stirring comments on violence on video games after the jump!

Wondering if you favorite country will be included in Konami Digital Entertainment's latest Pro Evolution Soccer release? Erik Hansson over at the Level7 site has just picked up what appears to be a complete listing of the national teams making it to PES 2008 (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, DS, PC).

That's all the details we've got on this news, which ties in nicely with the celebrities expected to make an appearance in the game. Stay tuned in case we receive more update - or if some lucky gamer confirms this lineup based on PES 2008's upcoming demo release. For now, here's the list (translated by the Winning Eleven blog):

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• England
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Israel

The complete list is available in the Full Article

Contrary to all the bad press that the European press event for Sony's God of War 2 Athens, Greece had, this video clarifies a lot of things that happened in the event.

The hype surrounding the press event focused almost exclusively on the slaughtered goat that was put on display. However, what didn't make it to the news was the fact that the goat was not necessarily the centerpiece of the event. From the pictures that we've seen, it would appear as if the dead goat was right in the middle of the hall where the event was taking place, when in truth, it was sequestered in a small room where the participants of the challenge had to "taste the sacrificial food of the gods".

Neither was it ever really given attention that the event went smoothly for the most part, and that a lot of people did in fact have fun with the games put up to spice up the occasion. Those who had the desire to "challenge the gods" had to survive certain tests, like the retrieval of the key from an aquarium with snakes. Then there was this "hand to hand combat" challenge, which was the display for their dexterity and overall athletic capabilities.

Yes, there was a dead goat somewhere in the venue. But really, everybody was just in the God of War mood, that nobody actually was iffy to the fact that a dead goat was used as a prop. Not that they didn't care, but maybe it was because the event just stayed true to the feel of the game. And in the time where God of War 2 is set, we're pretty sure goats weren't the only one slaughtered.

Oooh, another censor bar! Future Publishing, the guys handling the Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM), have just announced that they would be removing from their publication the offensive images of a dead goat as seen in footage of a God of War II event in Greece last March. This is in light of the recent apology made by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE).

A spokesperson from Future had this to say about the deal struck between Sony and their company and what they are now planning to do:

It was a joint decision to remove the offending pages across the print run. But the copies for subscribers have already been sent out so we can't recall them. The decision was made to remove the pages in 80,000 copies of the magazine being prepared for the newstands.

It's yet to be confirmed if pictures of other mature content (e.g. body-painted promo girls) will also be retracted. We find it interesting though that here in QJ, most of the commenters seem to be focused on the girl and her ample chest rather than the goat itself... We also noticed that as we post more on the said issue, more and more black censor bars appear on the pic. At the rate things are going... Nah, we kid. *wink*

In light of recent criticism being directed at their God of War II promo party in Athens, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has further stated that they did not condone animal cruelty.

"Sony Computer Entertainment Europe does not in any way, shape or form condone cruelty or mistreatment of animals," the SCEE spokesman stated. "Sony Computer Entertainment Europe takes the sensitivities of the general public and issues of animal welfare very seriously and is sorry for any offence or distress the event or perception of this event may have caused."

At the said promo party, UK's Daily Mail tabloid ran an article stating that the event's centerpiece was a "freshly decapitated" goat, as indicated in Official PlayStation Magazine. Sony has since apologized for the incident, and has promised to pull out OPM's latest issues from news stands. There is still no word regarding the company's stand on the boobies also sighted at the promo party. Just keep posted in case concerned animal rights groups (i.e. PETA) decide to come back with a reply.

If you're not familiar with Frank Miller's graphic novel or you're not really interested with the upcoming movie, but you are interested in Collision Studios' new beat 'em up for the PSP, then this post should help you out a bit when it comes to understanding the backstory of 300: March to Glory.

Well, you could always crack open a history book. But you're too lazy to do that right?

Anyway, here are the major characters in the story that the game (which will be released on the 27th of February) is based on:

King Leonidas - The Spartan King

King Leonidas only needed to kneel before a a Persian messenger to prevent slaughter at the hands of the Persians. He did not. Leonidas' Sparta will live and die as a state of free men. With his 300 personal bodyguards he seeks to stand in defiance against an army that shakes the earth with its march.

Xerxes - The Persian God-King

The God-king takes his supposed divinity a little too seriously. And why not? His Empire controls nearly the entire known world. Leonidas is a mystery to Xerxes as the God-King fails to understand a free man's willingness to die before submitting to his rule.

Get more character profiles after the Jump.

 

World Rally Championship driver Colin McRae is no longer a stranger to gamers. A number of racing games named after him have come out already on multiple platforms. His newest exploit would be Colin McRae: DIRT, to appear this 2007 on both next gen consoles, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Unknown to all of us, he's about to zoom his way towards our PSPs!

Actually, there was a 2005 racing title that featured the said racing icon. Unfortunately though, it didn't quite pick up. This time around, developer Codemasters would like to make sure this new title is not going to eat other racing game's dirt. Some of the new features include:

• international real-life race routes like the ones in Japan, Germany, Britain, Sweden, the United States, Finland, Australia, Spain, Greece and other 9 countries
• 20 famous races and 300 tracks all in all
• new car models like Toyota Celica VVTLi, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII, Peugeot 206, Lancia Stratos and 30 other classic models

Also, we learned that there would be an experience mode wherein players will play as McRae himself earning credits and making better records. Most excitingly, the new game allows for multiplayers, supporting up to eight players in one time. Now, that will make things dirty! Anyway, an official title for the game has yet to be announced as it is currently deep into development.