Tomorrow I’m starting my first work placement for university at Highbury Entertainment. I enjoyed it a lot the last time so I’m looking forward to this a lot, and as it could lead to some TGS work and other freelance I’m really enthusiastic. They haven’t even told me what I’ll be working on, although GamesTM would be cool because I know some of the people on it. Naturally I’ll be keeping this site updated with what I’m getting up to as I go along.

I’m also in the process of putting together my top ten movies to go with the top ten games that I wrote yesterday. It’s probably not got as many surprises as the game list, but hopefully it will prove interesting anyway.

…and all I got was this shitty TV.

I had to laugh at that picture. He can be the most powerful man in the world with his finger on some of the best technology in the world, but I still have a better TV. Not to mention my carpet is in one piece. You’d think that someone earning $400,000 a year plus who knows how much else from vested interests would at least be able to afford a 28″ widescreen at least.

In probably the least surprising lawsuit in a long time, the first person who can smell easy money is suing over the sex content in GTA San Andreas (The Register). Chances are that they’ll win and open the floodgates since the industry has become such a fashionable target, but I’m going to be pissed off if no-one notices the obvious holes in her argument and doesn’t at least advise the judge to throw the case out.

First of all, she’s suing because a game rated 18+ isn’t suitable for her 14 year-old grandson whereas one rated 17+ was. She didn’t know that it contained “explicit” (assuming “explicit” means “fully clothed”) sexual content despite the fact that the content was disabled and could only be opened by various hacks, and it was apparently OK that it did contain the whole gamut of illegal activities – murder, assassination, drug dealing, gang warfare, solicitation of prostitutes, bribing police officers, carjacking, burglary, arson, interfering with a witness, theft from a military facility, etc.

She also seems to have overlooked the fact that the ESRB guidelines for M and AO aren’t actually very different, and the M rating allows for “intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language”. The only difference is that AO allows for prolonged and graphic scenes, and you really can’t call Hot Coffee “graphic” if you’ve seen God of War with Kratos’ concubines.

Unfortunately this sort of thing is now inevitable with much of America apparently finding sex far more abhorrent than the murder of civilians.

I’ve just seen a study from Brunel University being reported on over on Joystiq which suggests that, not particularly shockingly, the majority of UK teenagers possess or regularly obtain pirated software. That’s not exactly news to anyone who’s been to school in the UK and seen the amount of piracy going on whenever a new Championship Manager (now Football Manager) comes out, but what I think the industry really needs to take heed of is the statistic that cost isn’t the main issue for them, even if it probably should be.

The reason why so many of them pirate software is because they’re sick of the delays in bringing certain things to the UK, if they make it at all. Things are definitely better than they were and things like the Xbox 360 making it here within six weeks of the US release is unique in that it actually treats us with some respect, but just look at Sony and the debacle surrounding the PSP release. They’re taking independent retailers to court – the same retailers that their own reps are buying PSPs from – and the whole thing could have been avoided if it was out here now for a decent price, not when it’s pushing its first anniversary in Japan for £70 more.

Good work, Brunel. Too bad the industry will probably just bury its head in the sand as usual.

Wow, why can’t we get DVD editions like this?

Possibly because it’s ¥29,500 (£151.45 or $264.55 US), but they’ve absolutely crammed it with stuff. The film, the trailers, Cloud and motorcycle figures, cup, T-shirt, keychain, behind the scenes footage (full list here). I was going to pick it up but when even the standard edition is the price of a game, ¥4,800, I don’t know if I can justify picking one up while I’m out there.

Who knows, though? I’m weak when it comes to things like this…

As I posted back when I saw the episode finale of the revived Doctor Who, I wasn’t convinced that David Tennant would be right for the part (too young, looked silly in those clothes, etc), but the BBC have released a veritable torrent of tidbits on the new series including, as you’ve probably noticed by now, a photo of Tennant in his own costume.

Now I really can’t wait. I’d heard about a pinstripe suit, trenchcoat, and trainer combo and reacted with a certain amount of apprehension before I saw the picture but he actually makes it look a lot cooler than Eccleston’s black leather jacket. It’s a unique and interesting look with, arguably, more character than the previous Doctor and does more to imbue him with the traditional idiosyncrasies that each actor brings. He still looks young if I’m to be picky and I’m still sure that his relationship with Rose will definitely go further than it probably should in Doctor Who (I’m not being prudish, but it just doesn’t suit the tone of the thing).

Of course I’m just speculating based on a photograph and it’s far too early to declare Tennant a worthy successor to Eccleston (who was great; don’t get me wrong because I’m not intending to attack him), but I’m definitely more excited about the new episodes now. Whether Tennant is better or not, we have the Cybermen, Sarah Jane and possibly K-9, a Stephen Fry episode, various guest stars, and more to look forward to.

Now I just need to pass the time until The Christmas Invasion…