judgment

Words power Gears of War: Judgment

Gears of War: Judgment has turned at least one aspect of game creation on its head, according to a behind-the-scenes video about the upcoming game for Xbox 360.

The 7-minute video sheds light on how the shooting game's co-developers, Epic Games and People Can Fly, integrated the two lead writers early in the game's creation -- instead of adding dialog and conversation later in the process.

Rob Auten and Tom Bissell, the lead writers for the fourth iteration of the game, spent a year creating 20,000 spoken lines for Judgment, which they estimate clocking in somewhere near 100,000 words. There are only about 17 minutes of cinematic cut scenes, so a lot of the dialog occurs during gameplay. Players can also increase the difficulty of levels in Judgment, and these experiences contain different script material for enhanced replay value. … Read more

Google reluctant to release info in Viacom case

Google, the search company that uncovers much of the world's information for its customers, is embroiled in a fight to keep information about itself under wraps for at least a while longer.

The owner of YouTube, which is defending itself against a $1 billion copyright lawsuit filed by entertainment giant Viacom, has asked a federal court to keep documents filed in the case under seal for another three months.

On Friday, Viacom and Google filed for summary judgment, claiming that there's enough undisputed evidence for the judge to rule in each party's favor. Supporting documents were also … Read more

Psion says Intel 'unjustly enriched' by Netbook

Psion Teklogix has answered Intel's claims regarding the chipmaker's right to use the term "Netbook." The Canadian company claims that Intel is being "unjustly enriched" by unauthorized use of the trademark.

Last week, Intel filed for a declaratory judgment against Psion Teklogix, claiming that the the term "netbook" is a "widely used generic term that describes a class of affordable computing devices, much like the term 'notebook' or 'ultra-mobile PC,'" Intel said in a statement last week.

Not surprisingly, Psion had a firm response: "Intel has acted willfully and … Read more

Intel moves against Psion for 'Netbook' trademark

Intel has filed for a declaratory judgment against Psion Teklogix in order to continue using the term "Netbook" generically. The legal filing also revealed, as a separate matter, that Google would prohibit search advertisements that include the term "netbook."

What's the difference between a Netbook and a notebook? More than the design, according to Psion Teklogix.

Psion "purports to be the owner of U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2404976 issued on November 21, 2000 for the mark Netbook for use in connection with laptop computer," according to an Intel legal filing in the … Read more

MySpace wins $234 million antispam judgment

Social-networking site MySpace.com has won a $234 million antispam judgment, according to the Associated Press.

On the losing side of the award--believed to be the largest ever under the 2003 Can-Spam Act--were defendants Walter Rines and Sanford Wallace, the so-called spam king. MySpace won the case against Wallace after he failed numerous times to turn over documents or show up for court.

"MySpace has zero tolerance for those who attempt to act illegally on our site," MySpace Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam told the AP. "We remain committed to punishing those who violate the law and … Read more