Games may often get a bad rap in the court room, what with guys like Jack Thompson running around, but  this time it got some positive recognition from the UK House of Commons.

Details in the full article.

The New Year is just about here... which means the majority of the QJ news team is out boozing it up, getting tipsy and declaring their love for each other between spurts of uncontrollable giggling. That doesn't mean they haven't left a few coherent words. Our own Gino D wanted to make a statement detailing his thoughts on new IP's, this year, and looking into the next.

It's time recognise those developers that really helped make this year something special for all of us gamers. A lot of hard work, sweat, dedication and long hours go into making the games we play, so here are a few words from us at QJ to say thanks, and keep up the good work.

So who made the list? Who makes your list? Let us know after the jump.

If you're wondering just what's going down in the upcoming Paris Games Developer Conference this June 23 and 24, then we've got a news update regarding the ever-so-important keynote: LittleBigPlanet creators Mark Healey and Alex Evans will be delivering it. They'll be talking about quite a lot of things (besides their own game). Check out all the details in the full article and see what this means to you.

Non-hippie, Oblivion-rocketeers Media Molecule made quite the impression on Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime. He said that - of Sony's Phil Harrison's title line-up in his keynote at the 2007 Game Developers Conference, LittleBigPlanet stole the show. What about the PlayStation Home? Well, that's something at the bottom of his list.

 

Nintendo America's president, who revealed the Nintendo Wii's successful drive for third-party game developer support at N'Gai Croal's exclusive interview, was quoted to have said at a latter part of the interview:

You know, I think the best thing shown by Phil Harrison was LittleBigPlanet. The group doing that game is fantastic, and I say that having seen the rag doll little product that they had created. ... That product, I think, is quite intriguing. I'm not sure how well it will do on the Sony platform, quite frankly, but I think that the product they showed was outstanding.

So it might not be surprising that the Japanese gaming giant, who always had the eye for creativity rather than going for the mainstream, figured that Sony should be given due credit for beating them to the punch. He said, and we quote, "Frankly, Nintendo wanted to do some business with those folks, but to give Phil some credit, he got there first."

So Rag Doll Kung Fu Mark Healey, Alex Evans and their army of 10 developers could have been working for gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto, instead of having to adapt their originally 2D, non-"age of aquarius" game for Sony's "We love it, but can we have more of the age of aquarius stuff?" antics. But they've taken the road most travelled, and that's probably what matters to most.

 

The GDC 2007 is proving to be a veritable gaming who's-who, with Miyamoto recently announced to hold the keynotes speech. And if that isn't enough, the GDC has just announced another line-up of high-profile developers making their presence known for this March 5 event.

• First up is Warren Spector, who will be delivering his lecture "The Future of Storytelling In Next-Generation Game Development." The lecture will be tackling the implications that next-gen technology have for interactive storytelling.
• For the PC and Xbox 360 scene, Remedy Entertainment's Lasse Seppänen will be presenting  "The Future of Innovative Studios: Team and Tools Behind Alan Wake." Insomniacs may want to look at this one.
• For PS3 fans, we have Evolution Studios' Scott Kirkland with "Programming Applied Physics: MotorStorm." The lecture is aimed to explain physics effects in their title, such as deformable terrain and destruction effects - they're noted to be especially good with the latter.
• Electronic Arts' Robin Hunicke will also be joining the lectures, with a segment titled "Big Results: Redefining a PC franchise for Nintendo Wii," which will be examining The Sims franchise's past incarnations, as compared to its transition to the Nintendo Wii.
• Also to be expected to be there are Mark Healey and Alex Evans, with the lecture "The First Year Of Media Molecule," and former Microsoft Microsoft and Infinium exec Kevin Bachus with "Adventures in Fundraising: Lessons Learned on the Cutting Edge of Capital."

Make sure to catch up on the other developers offering their two-cents in this major event going down in San Francisco.