The week in news: 12/12/2012

It has been reported by Eurogamer that Nintendo of Europe are restricting the purchase of Wii U content that is rated PEGI 18+ (our equivalent of an R18+ rating) to the hours between 11PM and 3AM.  Restricting the sale of adult content within this 4 hour bracket is thought to be an extra preventative measure against exposing children to adult material.   Games such as Assassins Creed 3 and Zombie U are examples of games that are rated PEGI 18+.   Allowing third parties to develop adult oriented games for the Wii U was a conscious decision by Nintendo, who have in the past marketed themselves as a family friendly company.

Tens of thousands of gamers worldwide are unable to play their favourite games online  after host Gamespy discontinued support for dozens of games permanently and without notice.  Gamespy, which was recently acquired by mobile game developer Glu, has faced a severe backlash online with their Facebook page bombarded with hundreds of messages from frustrated players.   Gamespy have issued comments stating that since the publisher of the game has discontinued support from the game, it is not financially viable to host servers or matchmaking services for these titles.  Games affected include SWAT 4, Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, star wars battlefront, Hidden and Dangerous 2  and Microsoft Flight Simulator 10.

Zynga, the social gaming developer of Farmville, the Ville and Zynga poker, has applied for a gambling license.  Currently, Zynga Poker allows players to purchase chips using real currency, but winnings can only be redeemed as virtual funds.   This process will allow Zynga to begin trading as a gambling service in the US, but plans are already in motion to allow Zynga to operate as a gambling service in the UK through a partnership with online gambling company Bwin.party.

Blizzard has revealed that they have a console version of popular PC title Diablo 3 up and running at their studios.   Though it is not an officially supported project,  an executive at the company said that he hoped that they could develop it to the point where it became one.