In mid-August, Capcom VP Christian Svensson reaffirmed the company’s commitment to developing software for the PlayStation Portable. Calling rumors that support would entirely cease “absolutely 100% false,” he told the official Capcom forums that the company was in fact making more PSP games.

But if PSP development has not stopped, it has certainly slowed. In a chart available today on Capcom’s Investor Relations website, the company has revealed that though FY2008 saw the release of 16 PSP games, and 20 were released in FY2007, this financial year we will see no more than six.

However, before all you PSP owners rise up in arms against your beloved developer, we should caution you that the number ‘6′ doesn’t mean anything until you qualify it with another number: 2,200,000. That’s the number of copies Capcom expects those six titles to collectively sell.

Certainly, that number won’t be difficult to reach if they’re counting sales of smash hit Monster Hunter 2G, which released just three days before the March 30th cutoff date for financial year 2008 figures… but if not, each one of those six games is responsible on average for pulling in 365,000 purchases. Quality over quantity?

Though the decline in PSP support is the most pronounced, the trend certainly isn’t limited to that system. Overall, Capcom is producing 26% fewer titles this year.

But considering that sales projections for the year are still 15% higher (see that little dot way above the 2009 column?) we wonder if Capcom will add the phrase “less is more” to their existing corporate philosophies of “single content, multiple usage,” global expansion, film production and multiplatform release.

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In an interview only last week, AC/DC’s Angus Young spoke at length to Britain’s Telegraph about the band’s refusal to sell their music through iTunes. Black Ice, AC/DC’s forthcoming album, is going on sale in a few weeks (at the same time as the Rock Band Track Pack), but is exclusively available in Wal-Mart — it will not be sold through Apple’s digital distribution behemoth. The Telegraph predicts Black Ice to be this year’s best-selling album, and while their article focuses on the possible ramifications for iTunes and digital music distribution, a few of the comments from Young point to possibile reasons behind the Track Pack decisions.

AC/DC’s main reason for keeping their music off of iTunes, claims the band, is that there is no way to sell an entire album on the online store without also allowing for the purchase of individual tracks. For AC/DC, it’s got to be all or nothing:

“Our real reason [for not selling singles] is that we honestly believe the songs on any of our albums belong together.

“If we were on iTunes, we know a certain percentage of people would only download two or three songs from the album - and we don’t think that represents us musically.”

It’s not a difficult leap to make, then, to assume that the decision to similarly bundle the entire AC/DC set for the Rock Band tracks was a dealbreaker. If Harmonix/MTV wanted to get AC/DC in their game (and, let’s face it, who wouldn’t?), it’s starting to look like they didn’t have a choice. A bit of similar language in the Telegraph article and today’s Variety piece on the Rock Band Track Pack further lends credence to this theory. From the Telegraph, last week:

The Australian no-nonsense rockers refuse to allow their work to be sold on iTunes because they argue that their albums are complete pieces of work that represent them at a certain time and place in their musical career and are not just a bunch of individual downloads to be cherry-picked by fans.

And, today, from Variety:

DeGooyer says that AC/DC members chose to put the “Live at Donington” songs in the game and that MTV enthusiastically agreed. “To us it hung together more than cherry picking master recordings,” he said. “It really is an experience. You put the disc in and you play through a live set.”

It’s completely possible that the phrase “cherry-picking” came up independently in each instance; it’s a common expression. Still, the sentiments are nearly identical — AC/DC seems rigidly set against allowing their songs to be sold on an individual basis. One begins to wonder how we wound up with “Let There Be Rock” in Rock Band 2, at all.

There’s a good chance we will never know the inner workings of Harmonix/MTV’s licensing agreement with AC/DC; such is the world of business. And, if AC/DC’s decision is never to divide up their albums, that’s their prerogative as artists. On the other hand, there’s a reason that “a certain percentage of people would only download two or three songs from the album.” Whether or not that’s a fair represenation of the band’s work, it’s ultimately up to the fan to decide what they want to listen to. Can AC/DC force owners of the album not to use the “next track” button? Will they be able to ensure that players of the Track Pack only play all 18 songs, back-to-back, every time they play?

It seems a little rude to force someone to order off the prix fixe menu if they don’t want a salad or dessert. Of course, we don’t have to eat there if we don’t like it — just how badly do we want the best steak in town?

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Yesterday, video game retailer Game Crazy released the results of a recent market research survey which claimed 90% of kids ages 8-17 expect to ask for a video game this holiday season, and that music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band topped their wish lists, followed by Mario Kart. The story was picked up by the likes of Gamasutra, GameDaily and CNET’s Crave.

Though we don’t doubt games will be incredibly popular this holiday season, we have reason to believe Game Crazy’s study was flawed.

As repeat readers are no doubt aware, we’re none too trusting when it comes to video game research. Why?

Well, among the fact that most studies are paid for by an organization that stands to benefit directly from biased results; the fact that most would-be game researchers know so little about games that they write inherent flaws into their own study; and my personal favorite, the general failure of game researchers to adhere to basis statistical principles of sampling (in a nutshell, a study that surveys white, middle-class, social-science-studying college kids cannot say anything about anyone who is not) most studies “prove” only that someone took a lot of trouble to run numbers through a computer.

So when I stumbled across the Game Crazy study yesterday morning, I was rather excited. Here was a piece of research funded by a company which might not have a direct interest in the results (Rock Band or Guitar Hero, it’s all the same to a retailer) and which, for once, prominently displayed signs of proper sampling and statistical significance in the press release.

The Game Crazy survey was conducted online August 17-31, 2008, by Weekly Reader Research. One thousand U.S. male and female participants, ages 8-17, were recruited from Weekly Reader Research’s INSIDERS survey research community. Random sampling procedures were employed to ensure the respondents accurately reflect the nation’s 42.7 million 8-17 year olds in terms of age, race/ethnicity, gender and census region. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval.

In other words, if Weekly Reader Research managed to conduct an completely unbiased study, the results would most likely be accurate for the entire country. You’d be able to say things like “9 out of 10 kids want video games this Christmas” without batting an eye. So, determined to find out if anything would inadvertently bias the study results towards games and/or music, I had a look at Weekly Reader’s website, where I was greeted by:

Games.

And music.

And more games, and more music. (And a Macbook, and stuffed animals, yes…)

What I didn’t find, though, were surveys. I discovered that while the above page is one of several locations from which survey respondents are recruited, the actual surveys take place at a different site, WRInsiders.com. However — for purposes of insuring an unbiased survey sample – what I found at WRInsiders wasn’t much better.

Described by Weekly Reader Research itself as a pair of portals “based on video game metaphors in which kids earn points for answering questions,” WRInsiders gives kids a chance to convert answers into prizes (around 1/3 of which are video games); play a variety of flash games; or go back to Weekly Reader and play games there.

Unless the kids that visit WRInsiders do so because of deep-seated humanitarian ideals (which is possible; 10 of the available prizes are charity donation) it’s probably safe to say that they’re in it for the games — which could make their survey responses biased towards games, and that 90% figure that much less likely to apply to every kid in the USA.

We wanted to give Weekly Reader the benefit of the doubt, though… so we called them up. This morning, I spoke to John Fredricks, director of market research at Weekly Reader and their parent company Reader’s Digest.

Fredricks told me a variety of wonderful things about WRInsiders — how they’re 100% COPPA compliant, how they receive all their new members via word-of-mouth, how they automatically filter candidates to make sure that children don’t become “pro respondents,” how this particular study had a huge sample of 1000 individuals and none were “prequalified to be gamers” — but after looking at the questionnaire kids actually filled out online, none of that could convince me that the study was any less inherently biased that I’d originally feared.

First, though Game Crazy is calling this study the “Holiday Gift Tracker Survey,” the questionnaire is, as you might expect, entirely about video games. The press release line “Parents and grandparents can expect video games to be on the top of children’s holiday wish lists this year,” is entirely misleading, as the study did not survey children’s desire to ask elder generations for, say, stuffed animals, pocketknives or the latest Roomba.

Second, question 11 — the answers from which Game Crazy derived that 90% figure — was worded like this:

11. This holiday season, how likely are you to ask for at least one video game?
Very Likely
Somewhat Likely
Somewhat Unlikely
Very Unlikely

The problem here is not with the question, but how the answers were counted. Fredricks told me that both “Very Likely” and “Somewhat Likely” were counted towards that 90%. You don’t need to be a statistics guru to see how kids who might have only been considering the idea of asking for a video game would be roped in.

Third, though the full list of games kids could designate as their holiday pick did indeed include the violent Gears of War 2 (as well as Need for Speed Undercover, Lego Batman, Sonic Unleashed and “Imagine Series Game or Petz Game”) as one of 10 available options, several earlier questions may well have primed kids to choose the games they did:

18. What video game accessory can you not live without?

Battery Pack
Car Charger
Racing Wheel
Online Points Card
Guitar

19. What video game accessory do you wish you had in real life?

Wii Dance Mat
Guitar Hero Rock Guitar
Wii Stearing Wheel
Rock Band Drum Set

28. What video game would you like to give Santa?

Mario Kart-if he can drive a sleigh around the world in one night, he can handle these tracks
Wii Fit- extra sugar cookies means he could stand to lose a few pounds
High School Musical Spotlight World Tour- check out the vocals on the world’s best gift giver
Guitar Hero- the idea of Santa rocking out is too amusing to pass up

29. What video game do you think Santa is most likely to give Mrs. Claus?

High School Musical Spotlight World Tour- for the budding North Pole singer
Wii Fit- she also enjoyed her sugar cookies a bit too much this year
Petz and Dogz- for the animal-lover in head of the household
Rock Band – to see Mrs. Claus rocking out on the drums

It’s worth noting that neither High School Musical Spotlight World Tour nor Wii Fit were on the list of games kids could choose from.

Fredricks told me that the survey questions were were not composed by Weekly Reader, but rather passed along by Cone PR, who served as an intermediary for Game Crazy. Weekly Reader did, however, have a role in recommending changes to the questions. Asked about potential fallacies in the study and if there was anything that could be improved, he told me “No, I wouldn’t change anything here.”

We doubt this study was intentionally biased in any way — like I said, Game Crazy could care less whether kids pick up Guitar Hero or Rock Band — but for the purposes of advancing video game research we hope others will learn from this study’s potential failings.

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Contrived? Perhaps. Favorable? Almost certainly. But whether Capcom is experimenting with a new public relations tool, a community-building attempt or an actual journalistic endeavor, their new series of developer interviews debut today on the Capcom investor relations website.

For fans longing for a inside look at the creative processes and corporate philosophies behind Capcom’s hottest new titles — and trendwatchers who note how video gaming news is increasingly delivered straight from the horse’s mouth — their existence, at the very least, is not to be easily dismissed.

Today, Capcom published internal interviews with Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi and Monster Hunter Freedom 2G producer Ryozo Tsujimoto. How do these first two attempts stack up against Nintendo’s critically acclaimed Iwata Asks?

Well… perhaps we’d best let the interviewer’s questions speak for themselves. Here’s what page two of the Takeuchi interview would look like if his responses were edited out:

I have to say, the graphics [for RE5] are really impressive.

And that evolution was made possible by the next-gen consoles I assume.

So things you weren’t able to do on previous consoles, you were able to do this time out?

I can see that with the use of light and dark, and especially the shadows. The game really feels scary.

Chris Redfield looks quite striking with the bright, African sun shining down on him.

When I saw the trailer (on the DVD) where all of a sudden you see this poor victim in a dark place, it just felt scary. I thought the game showed a high degree of completion.

How long have you spent on development?

When will RE5 go on sale?

Mind you, that’s just page two; before the interviewer starts referring to RE5 as a landmark game and praising the team’s attention to detail. Still, there’s wheat amidst the chaff…

“Takeuchi”
The graphics do look a lot more realistic than anything we’ve done before, so we couldn’t use many of the usual game design techniques to create them. Using regular animation techniques for such realistic subject matter would look odd, so we went to Hollywood to shoot scenes for the game with a company that worked on the film 300.

…and once PR gets past the sales pitch, the sections dealing with development processes are fairly intriguing. On page four of the second interview, Monster Hunter’s Ryozo Tsujimoto tells the interviewer that at Capcom, not only are staff free to provide input on every aspect of game production, but that sales and development actually work together to promote the game.

When we started on the original Monster Hunter series, all the staff involved, including me, was collectively referred to as the project team. I use this term to include the dev team and people outside of development, such as the people who are trying to sell the game. For example, if we want to raise the quality of a game, or make it more appealing to consumers, the side the works on development and the side that’s concerned with publicity and promotional activities collaborate on ideas together. If the sales side and the development side don’t work together, you’re missing an opportunity to come up with creative ideas. Because we work together like that, if they need something for sales, we don’t even hesitate to throw our support behind it. The people outside development are part of the project’s collaborative efforts, and that’s important for the work we do.

That fact goes some way to explaining why these developers are providing internal PR with these interview opportunities.

Seven more interviews are listed as “Coming soon.”

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EEDAR, which tends to go into a worrying amount of depth in its various analyses, has published their September 2008 Exposé, the company’s monthly report on today’s gaming trends, and this time around, EEDAR is tackling “Accomplishment Systems” — that is, Xbox Live Achievements and PSN Trophies. EEDAR’s report contains three conclusions which their sales data has led them to, accompanied by colorful graphs (so you know they’re true):

• Games with more achievements sell more copies.

This seems like something of a shallow assertion at first; surely gamers aren’t that drawn to achievements over the core enjoyability of a game. One could argue, of course, that a better-designed game will necessarily use achievements to better effect, but that’s difficult to prove. What EEDAR does have on its side, however, is data that shows just how great the divide is:

[In 2007,] Games with 31+ Accomplishments generated more than three times the average unit sales of games with 1-30. … In 2008, so far, we have seen this trend become even more extreme. No game titles have been released with 10 or less Accomplishments. Games with 31-40 Accomplishments are doing far worse than game titles with 41-50. 40% of 2008 games have less than 40 Accomplishments and average less than a third of the unit sales of games with 41-50 Accomplishments.

Conclusion: Don’t skimp on the achievements, designers. But it’s not just about piling in a bunch of “Score 100/Score 1000/Score 1,000,000″ objectives, either:

• Games with more diversity in their achievements sell more copies.

In compiling their data, EEDAR claims to have identified 16 different types of achievement, and categorized their analyzed games by how many different types they contain. Once again, the sales numbers and the type numbers went hand-in-hand:

So far in 2008, about half of all game titles contain 7 or more Accomplishment types, much more prevalent than in previous years. The games doing so are selling double the number of units than games with 1-6 types.

Double the number of units. Again, say what you will about cause and effect — maybe the well-designed games just know how to handle their achievements, or maybe including some good achievements will draw out the finer elements of your game design. In either case, EEDAR’s message is loud and clear, as phrased within the report: “A note to publishers and developers – ignore Accomplishments at your own peril.”

Finally, the report makes a special note as to what these figures mean for the console race:

• The 360 is handling achievements far better than the PS3.

EEDAR calls out the major differences between Achievements and Trophies, namely that the former are mandatory for every game on the system, the latter require users to be logged in to PSN (even for offline games), and as such, Sony is missing out. To sum up, the report notes:

…if a game title is released on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3 does not have Trophies, users that own both consoles will probably gravitate toward the Xbox 360 version.

Our addiction is only going to grow from here, friends. You can check out the report for yourself, here.

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Spotted on multiple sources this morning, Harmonix and MTV Games have officially announced the impending release of AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack on November 2, and November 16th for the Wii. Working similarly to previous Track Packs that Rock Band has seen, the title will function as a standalone game with new tracks — in this case, 18 live recordings of some of AC/DC’s biggest hits, including Thunderstruck, You Shook Me All Night Long, Highway to Hell, and Back in Black (finally). Whereas prior Track Packs served as a way for the DLC-unable PS2 and Wii versions of Rock Band to get some of the newer songs, AC/DC LIVE is being released for all major platforms, including Wii, PS2, PS3, and 360. Pricing the 18-song game at $39.88, Harmonix and MTV Games appear to be going the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith/Metallica route, combining a collection of band-specific songs in one package. There is one exception to the similarity: Unlike GH: Aerosmith, gamers who purchase AC/DC LIVE will be able to export the songs from the disc and play them as part of their regular Rock Band DLC library.

I love most everything about Rock Band; I play it almost constantly. I have no problem paying for DLC; my 150-track library (not including on-disc songs) is testament to that. AC/DC is a fantastic band, and I would love to play Back in Black with my fellow faux rockers. All that being said, I don’t think I would buy AC/DC LIVE, and I’ll tell you why.

The price point is certainly a factor. Forty bucks for an 18-song album is the most Harmonix/MTV have ever asked for any add-on content, and the value is demonstrably less than that for anybody who already owns Rock Band. It’s easily justifiable from a retail standpoint — including a playable game on the disc along with the songs makes it a product that can stand alone and be completely worth $40 — assuming the game you’re getting is a new one. There isn’t even any mention here of any special venues, custom models, or band-specific bonus content as promised by the Guitar Hero counterparts. It’s possible that such features are going to be announced later, but until we hear about them, we have to assume the game that comes with the new music is an identical or truncated version of the basic title, thus giving no new value to prior owners. There’s also the factor that one of the songs on the disc, Let There Be Rock, is already included in Rock Band 2’s library. The AC/DC LIVE track is probably an exciting new version, but it’s probably safe to assume you’ll inevitably come to prefer one version over the other — so, either way, you lose one song’s worth of value from your collection. In essence, if you already own Rock Band, you’re paying $40 for 17 songs, or $2.35/song.

That price is above and beyond anything Harmonix/MTV has ever charged for add-ons. Even if one ignores the fact that buying an entire album usually gets one a lower cost per song, the typical Rock Band DLC runs you $2/track. It doesn’t sound like much more — in truth, I’d still pay $2.35 per song in order to pick up a few favorites from the promised tracklist. I don’t have that option, however — the songs are sold as a package only. If I want to play my one favorite, I’m buying the other 17 songs whether I want them or not. And I wouldn’t hold my breath for these songs to appear individually on the Rock Band Music Store; given Harmonix/MTV’s firm stance on the Rock Band 1 songs, I think it’s safe to say they’re not going to undermine sales of the new Track Pack by offering a more attractive, customizable option.

Still, let’s assume that money is no object for you — perhaps you’d pay well over $100 to enjoy more AC/DC on Rock Band; a fair point. Still, I hope for your sake that means you’ve got an Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3, because otherwise, this is still going to be a pain for you. PS2 owners know they have no other option, since their system can’t support any meaningful DLC solution, but Wii owners had just been given a reprieve: Only yesterday, Harmonix/MTV confirmed that the upcoming Wii release of Rock Band 2 would support DLC via SD card storage or the console’s (meager) memory. Finally, a new level of functionality for Wii players; no more disc swapping and starting up a new game to play new tracks, right? Sorry, nope — the song export functionality is only listed for PS3 and 360. There’ll be no dropping T.N.T. into your custom setlist, my friends. Enjoy!

Oh, and speaking to those of you for whom money is a concern: You may be hoping to utilize yesterday’s suggested solution for attaining the new tracks in the same way you can attain the RB1 library, namely, borrowing the disc from a friend long enough to export the songs and then never using it again. Not this time, folks; don’t count on it. The press release puts it thusly:

All tracks from the AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack will also be available for play in Rock Band and Rock Band 2 by entering a special export authentication code for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system versions.

If Harmonix/MTV know their business — and let’s face it, they probably do — that export code is going to be unique. You know that code you got with Rock Band 2 for the eventual download of 20 free songs? The one printed on the back of your manual, that’s unique to your copy of the game, and is going to become invalid after you use it? Yeah — we’re guessing you can expect something like that for AC/DC Live. So, no, there’s no way around it; it’s their way or the highway (to hell). Prepare to part with $40.

Rock Band, you were doing so well. Back when I wrote a similar diatribe concerning the Guitar Hero spinoffs, I lambasted Activision for undermining their own DLC promises with these forced retail packages. I didn’t like it then, and despite the song export option — which, let’s face it, you would be crucified for not including at this point — I don’t like it now. I’ll reserve judgement until I see what truly comes with the $40 purchase, but for now, I’m quite disappointed in you.

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A shopping mall full of zombies. A cadre of muscle-bound world warriors decapitating foes left and right. An alternate universe where Cold War superheroes investigate a conspiracy. It hasn’t been lost on Electronic Arts that these films settings make for excellent interactive experiences on or off the silver screen — and that their director, Zack Snyder, has a particular talent for making films that feel like video games to begin with.

Today, in an attempt to harness that creativity, EA has signed Snyder to a three-game deal… and more.

Like Steven Spielberg before him — who, the press release notes, will also be working at the same studio — Snyder will serve as creative director on new intellectual properties which Electronic Arts will then develop, publish and distribute as full game franchises. Where this deal differs, however, is what happens after these franchises take off. According to the release, the Snyder-EA deal also “includes efforts to extend the game franchises into theatrical motion pictures,” which will presumably then be directed by Snyder himself.

There’s more at work here than just a celebrity director hiring. This move is EA’s latest validation for trends started by the likes of Capcom and Radar Group to not merely franchise video game properties across multiple media, but to develop themfrom the ground up with that ambition.

Full press release:

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS - News) today announced that renowned filmmaker Zack Snyder will bring his unique vision to the development of three original EA games. Snyder will lead the creative direction of the games while working in partnership with the production team at EA Los Angeles, the same studio currently collaborating with Steven Spielberg on Boom Blox™ and other games in development with Mr. Spielberg. Snyder’s recent works include hit movies, “The Dawn of the Dead” and “300”. He is also currently working on an adaptation of “Watchmen” based on the legendary comic book series, due to release in March 2009.

Under the agreement with Cruel & Unusual Films, EA will own the intellectual properties and the game franchises will be developed, published and distributed worldwide by EA. The relationship between Snyder and EA includes efforts to extend the game franchises into theatrical motion pictures. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“I think video games are cool because they offer an opportunity to tell a story in an entirely unique way,” said Zack Snyder. “Being a long time fan of the games EA creates, I look forward to collaborating with them.”

Frank Gibeau, President of EA Games Label said, “Zack Snyder has a fresh and bold creative style that resonates with our core audience. Zack is the perfect partner for joining us in creating powerful new interactive fiction.”

The deal was brokered on behalf of Mr. Snyder and Cruel & Unusual Films by Creative Artists Agency.

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The exciting part, from a developer standpoint, is the further announcement that these new Steam-offered mods will take advantage of the Steamworks structuring and integration software. At its most basic, Valve promises that these specific mods will gain “stat tracking and tighter integration with the Steam community,” but there’s much more we ought to expect in the near future. Sure, it’ll be great to obsess over your kill-per-death ratio and play against your friends list in your favorite mod. Steamworks, however, promises a handful of interesting design features to a Steam-powered developer — the ability to define and add your own in-game achievements, for example. In addition, there can be access to Steam’s robust back-end, which promises auto-updates for one’s users and real-time bug and download tracking, plus basics like voice chat and matchmaking support.

Traditionally, Valve has noted that Steamworks is not intended for small-audience mods, but the inclusion of this new handful in the Steam store could well be the first step towards reversing that policy. And, as always, greater publicity for amateur developers and greater selection for gamers is typically good news for everybody.

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So, after you and your drummer take a little break, you ask for an explanation. “I thought you told me that Rock Band 2 was exactly like Rock Band 1, except with way better features and improved functionality,” you complain. “You said once I owned Rock Band 2, there was pretty much no reason to go back and play Rock Band 1.”

“That’s true,” your drummer nods. “Ever since I started playing RB2, I haven’t felt the need to play RB1 again at all.”

You pout in your hypothetically adorable way. “Well, so now if I want to play the other Foo Fighters song, I need to buy a copy of the original? That seems dumb.” You point to the on-screen music store, still hovering in the gap between Fall Out Boy and (as made famous by) Foreigner. “I mean, I’d pay two bucks for the track. There’s probably a bunch of other good songs from Rock Band 1 I’d be willing to buy individually for the regular DLC price. If they made them available, I’d probably spend more money on them than it would cost me to pick up Rock Band 1 — which I’d almost certainly buy used at this point, making MTV Games no money at all.”

“It does seem a bit backwards and inconvenient,” acknowledges your drummer, “Especially for new players who are starting with the superior Rock Band 2, like you hypothetically did. But it’s probably part of the licensing agreement. Those songs can only be sold as a package, I’m guessing. I don’t know for sure, of course.”

You grumble, checking the contents of your wallet. “Well, I guess I’m out $30 for a used copy of Rock Band if I ever want to play Learn to Fly.”

Your drummer smiles enigmatically, and waves your wallet away. From his gym bag, he produces his own copy of Rock Band 1, and pops it into your console. Fifteen minutes and $5 later, you have access to nearly the entire RB1 library thanks to the game’s export feature, including your prized Foo Fighters track and many more. You’re thrilled, yet confused. “Wait — so there’s nothing to stop me from borrowing or renting the game just long enough to export the tracks? You could, hypothetically, take your copy to everyone’s house and let them perform the export process?”

“Well, sure,” laughs your drummer. “Isn’t that what pretty much everybody is going to do?”

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GameCyte’s legal consultant took the time to review the emergency motion (as reproduced by Kotaku), and had this to say:

I was taught in law school that it isn’t the number of arguments or pages in your brief that matter, but the cogency and relevance of your arguments. My guess is that a lot of Jack’s stuff doesn’t mean, well, jack. The issue regarding Richard Gorman touches on one issue that usually is of interest to courts — the right of adequate defense and counsel — but given the claim of “obstruction of justice by the Florida Bar and its Governors,” I’m not guessing that this guy is going to Ride Old Sparky at dawn next Tuesday if Jack isn’t there to act as his counsel. My guess: that argument isn’t going to mean much.

Spinning conspiracy theories about the Bar Association — judges are members, too — is not really calculated to win over a court. Also, I doubt they’ll put much stock in an “emergency motion” when the issue of Gorman could have been raised in the proceedings proper. Emergency motions are used when there’s fresh information developed at the last minute. 77 defendants may look impressive, but I doubt there’s much discrimination in choosing which of those defendants have knowledge and relevance to the case, even assuming there’s anything there. A lot of times, folks will throw a batch of names against a wall to see what sticks; that’s a main tactic in asbestos litigation, one of my personal bugbears.

Referring to one’s self in the third person (granted, a press release) is an indication that I do not believe this man has the full complement of court cards in his deck. Indeed, compare Judge Tunis’ report to the press release. They fit neatly together.

I’d say it’s a lead pipe cinch the emergency motion will get shot down, post haste.

Our legal consultant is certified to practice law in New York and New Jersey, not Florida, but this would seem to lend credence to our original theory — Thompson is grasping at the few straws he has left, and Richard Gorman just happens to be the straw du jour. We eagerly await Jack’s next attempt.

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