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David Braben, founder of Frontier (Lost Winds,Thrillville) has some interesting ideas that developers can use to avoid consumers from trading in their games to get newer ones. In an interview withDevelopMag, Braben proposes that “struggling” developers should utilize unique box codes or create single-use incentives. Another option would be to offer extras – or even part of the game itself – packaged in with the game as a unique code on a scratch-card....

In an interview with GameStar, Electronic Arts senior VP Patrick Söderlund revealed that there aren’t any plans to put out modding tools forBattlefield 3. Not entirely the stance I would’ve expected them to take. The reason? “If you look at the Frostbite engine, and how complex it is, it’s going to be very difficult for people to mod the game, because of the nature of the set up of levels, of the destruction and all those things … it’s quite tricky....

In a recent interview, Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari and creator of Pong) made some comments that set the gaming world aflame, calling current games “pure, unadulterated trash.” As per the usual, the internet exploded into a bucket of flamewars about the legendary gaming icon, with opinions spanning approval to wishes for his public demise. Gametap decided to follow up with Bushnell withan interviewthat addressed his sensational comments and also produced some more food for thought....

InThe Sun’scolumn “Ask Dr. Keith,” Dr. Keith states that a small percentage of middle-aged males don’t engage in physical activity because of videogames. Keith draws the correlation from recent research that shows physical activity in the UK on the rise, but a fraction of the percentage of what would be the videogame demographic on the decrease. The only bits of anatomy many young men exercise are their fingers and wrists. No sniggering at the back, please, I’m talking about computer games....

Ragecontinuesto look terrific, and also continues to be id’s main focus, at least in terms of where the studio’s marketing muscle is at. Following a few brief statements aboutDoom 4, which pin it as not a direct sequel toDoom 3but not a series reboot either, Eurogamer has gotten new info. id’s design director Matt Hooper says the team onDoom 4is going in its “own direction. They’re doing somethingDoomfans will be happy with....

Do you love videogames, but hate the fact that you don’t look like a total tool while playing, then maybeDarkgameis for you! Imagine a game where one player is the hunter and the other is the hunted. The hunted can see the game world, but the hunter is totally blind and must track his quarry by following electronic pulses transmitted to a little plastic glove which surrounds the player’s head....

It’s E3 Monday! Microsoft’s livestream is about to begin, and we’ll be covering it Live from the floor and from our offices. Check out our liveblog below! If you’re on your mobile, check out the livestream for mobile devices athttp://xbox.mobi/e3. If the embedded stream does not work for your region, try the GameTrailers onehere, the Gamespot onehere, or the Microsoft onehere.

I’m hoping that the Wii U comes packed in with some of these demos that Nintendo has been showing off here at E3.Battle Meis particularly fun, and makes great great use of both the Wii remote’s best function (I.R. pointer controls), and some of the more interesting features of the Wii U controller as well. I’ve also been a sucker for little super deformed versions ofMetroidcharacters ever since I first playedMinitroid, so that helps....

Once again, the ESRB reveals information regarding an unannounced release. This time, it relates to the first two games in Rockstar’s noir shooter series,Max Payne. The game ratings board is nowlistingXbox 360 as a platform for the titles on their website. Interestingly, the games are not listed for PlayStation 3, suggesting that Microsoft may have scored an exclusive. With theannouncementofMax Payne 3a week ago, it seems like Rockstar is looking to squeeze a little extra cash out its predecessors....

Aside from having the best name ever, the live music event known asEXTRA HYPER GAME MUSIC EVENT 2008may also have the best guest/performer list ever: This guest list is basically a list of game music gods in Japan. Hip Tanaka did everything good from Nintendo that Koji Kondo didn’t. Yuzo Koshiro is a legend, scoring everything fromStreets of Rage IItoShenmue. And don’t get me started on Yasunori Mitsuda. Just don’t....

The E3 trailer forF.E.A.R 3, orF.3.A.Rif you’re into ridiculous marketing gimmicks, has hit the Internet and you’re able to watch it with your eyes right above these words you are reading. It’s full of action and music and foreshadowing, and this particular writer is quite hyped for it. I’m a pretty big fan of theF.E.A.Rseries despite its hit-and-miss reception among gamers. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this ghostly co-op iteration, though it’ll be damn interesting to see how they can keep things scary while having two players....

Square Enix, despite showing off a new trailer at the Tokyo Game Show last year, willnot be revealing anythingto do withFinal Fantasy Versus XIIIat this year’s show. The publisher is apparently breaking the habit of a lifetime and for once will only be focusing on games coming out over the next twelve months instead of ten billion years from now. TGS attendees will be able to playFinal Fantasy XIII,Kingdom Hearts: Birth By SleepandDissidia: UniversalTraining (an international version ofDissidiafor Japan)....

While Microsoft’s small-developer XNA tools have been available for awhile, it was only recently that the software giant revealed plans to allow creators to get paid for their efforts. Called Xbox LIVE Community Games, this new allows XNA developers to offer up their titles in exchange for Microsoft Points, with portions of the real-world profits going directly into their pockets. When Xbox LIVE Community Games launches this fall, Xbox 360 owners will have a slew of titles from relatively unknown developers to choose from....